The Order of Karl Marx () was the most important order in the German Democratic Republic (GDR). The award of the order also included a prize of 20,000 East German marks.
The order was founded on May 5, 1953 on the occasion of Karl Marx's 135th birthday during Karl Marx Year and on the recommendation of the GDR Council of Ministers. It was granted to individuals, enterprises, organizations, and military groups for exceptional merit in relation to ideology, culture, economy, and other designations. Additionally, citizens of other countries could also be awarded the order.
Notable recipients of the Order
1953: Otto Buchwitz, Hermann Duncker, Otto Franke, Otto Grotewohl, Luise Kähler, Olga Körner, Helmut Lehmann, Hermann Matern, Wilhelm Pieck, , Rosa Thälmann, Walter Ulbricht, Wilhelm Zaisser 1956: Wilhelm Koenen 1961: Alfred Kurella, Gherman Titov 1962: Alexander Abusch, Karl Bittel, Franz Dahlem, Herbert Warnke, Otto Winzer 1963: Yuri Gagarin, Karl Maron, Willy Rumpf, Valentina Tereshkova 1964: Nikita Khrushchev 1965: Pavel Belyayev, Paul Fröhlich, Alexei Leonov, Hans Schaul 1966: Helene Berg 1967: Rudolf Dölling, John Heartfield, Wilhelm Kling, Karl Mewis 1968: Max Burghardt, Roman Chwalek, Kurt Seibt 1969: Walter Beling, Paul Dessau, Erich Honecker, Jürgen Kuczynski, Hermann Matern, Albert Norden, Willi Stoph, Lotte Ulbricht, Paul Verner 1970: Bruno Apitz, Otto Braun, Max Burghardt, Ernst Busch, Fritz Dallmann, Heinz Hoffmann, Erwin Kramer, Erich Mückenberger, Harry Tisch 1971: Erich Correns 1972: Fritz Cremer, Max Fechner, Klaus Gysi, Kurt Hager, Erich Honecker, 1973: , Eva Altmann, Werner Bruschke, Friedrich Dickel, Ernst Goldenbaum, Erich Mielke, Fred Oelßner 1974: Walter Arnold, Kurt Bachmann, Walter Bartel, Bruno Beater, Jurij Brězan, Leonid Brezhnev, Walter Buchheim, Fritz Cremer, Käthe Dahlem, Arthur Franke, Alexander Schalck-Golodkowski, Willi Stoph, Josip Broz Tito, Markus Wolf, Todor Zhivkov 1975: Edmund Collein,Baumgartner, Gabriele; Hebig, Dieter (1996) Collein, Edmund in Biographisches Handbuch der SBZ/DDR. Band 1. p. 104. München: De Gruyter Saur on Google Books. Retrieved 25 May 2019 Werner Eggerath, Horst Sindermann, Aleksandr Vasilevsky, Paul Wandel 1976: Vladimir Aksyonov, Hermann Axen, Valery Bykovsky, Luis Corvalán, Luise Ermisch, Manfred Ewald, Wolfgang Junker, Günter Mittag, Ernst Scholz, Paul Verner, Werner Walde 1977: Friedel Apelt, Hilde Benjamin, Klaus Gysi, Kurt Hager, Erich Honecker, Margot Honecker, Erich Mielke, Josip Broz Tito 1978: Valery Bykovsky, Fritz Eikemeier, Werner Felfe, Hans Modrow, Joachim Herrmann, Werner Krolikowski, Konrad Naumann, Elli Schmidt, Sigmund Jähn 1979: Leonid Brezhnev, Johannes Chemnitzer, Horst Dohlus, , Ernst Engelberg, Klaus Fuchs, Gerhard Grüneberg, Heinz Keßler, Charilaos Florakis 1980: Heinz Hoffmann, Alfred Lemmnitz, Siegfried Lorenz 1981: Leonid Brezhnev, Peter Florin, Erwin Geschonneck, Albert Norden, Gerhard Schürer 1982: Hilde Eisler, Kurt Hager, Erich Honecker, Kim Il Sung, Erich Mielke, Alexander Schalck-Golodkowski, Paul Scholz 1983: , Gerhard Beil, Friedrich Dickel, Wilhelm Ehm, Oskar Fischer, Egon Krenz, Werner Scheler, Lotte Ulbricht, Gustáv Husák 1984: 6th Flotilla of the East German People's Navy, Alfred Neumann, Willi Stoph, Wilhelm Sann 1985: Friedrich Dickel, Horst Dohlus, Heinz Hoffmann, Erich Honecker, Bruno Lietz, Erich Mückenberger, Ilse Thiele 1986: , Fidel Castro, Luise Dornemann, Gisela Glende, Günter Mittag 1987: Hilde Benjamin, Margot Honecker, Werner Jarowinsky, Erich Mielke, Markus Wolf 1988: Georgi Atanasov, Nicolae Ceaușescu, Manfred Gerlach, Joachim Herrmann, Kurt Seibt 1989: Horst Brünner, Angel Dimitrov, Aleksi Ivanov, Günter Schabowski, Willi Stoph, Petar Tanchev, Herbert Weiz, Günther Wyschofsky
See also Orders, decorations, and medals of East Germany Order of Lenin Order of Georgi Dimitrov Order of Kim Il Sung
References
External links