Roman Herzog was a German politician, judge and legal scholar, who served as the president of Germany from 1994 to 1999. A member of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU), he was the first president to be elected after the reunification of Germany. He previously served as a judge of the Federal Constitutional Court, and he was the President of the court 1987–1994. Before his appointment as a judge he was a professor of law. He received the 1997 Charlemagne Prize.
Walter Scheel was a German statesman. A member of the Free Democratic Party of Germany (FDP), he first served in government as the Federal Minister of Economic Cooperation and Development from 1961 to 1966 and later as President of Germany from 1974 to 1979. He led the FDP from 1968 to 1974.
The Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany is the only federal decoration of Germany. It is awarded for special achievements in political, economic, cultural, intellectual or honorary fields. It was created by the first President of the Federal Republic of Germany, Theodor Heuss, on 7 September 1951. Colloquially, the decorations of the different classes of the Order are also known as the Federal Cross of Merit (Bundesverdienstkreuz).
Hans "Hanns" Martin Schleyer was a German business executive, and employer and industry representative, who served as President of two powerful commercial organizations, the Confederation of German Employers' Associations and the Federation of German Industries. Schleyer became a target for radical elements of the German student movement in the 1970s for his role in those business organisations, positions in the labour disputes, aggressive appearance on television, conservative anti-communist views, position as a prominent member of the Christian Democratic Union, and past as an enthusiastic member of the Nazi student movement and a former SS officer.
Hans-Gert Pöttering is a German lawyer, historian and conservative politician, who served as President of the European Parliament from January 2007 to July 2009 and as Chairman of the CDU-affiliated Konrad Adenauer Foundation from 2010 to 2017.
Reinhard Mohn was a German billionaire businessman and philanthropist. Under his leadership, Bertelsmann, once a medium-sized printing and publishing house, established in 1835, developed into a global media conglomerate. In 1977, he founded the non-profit Bertelsmann Stiftung, which is today one of the largest foundations in Germany, with worldwide reach.
Kurt Beck is a German politician of the Social Democratic Party (SPD), who served as the 7th Minister President of Rhineland-Palatinate from 1994 to 2013 and as the 55th President of the Bundesrat in 2000/01. In May 2006, he succeeded Matthias Platzeck as chairman of the German Social Democratic Party (SPD). He resigned from that post in September 2008.
Paul Kirchhof is a German jurist and tax law expert. He is also a professor of law, member of the Pontifical Academy of Social Sciences and, a former judge in the Federal Constitutional Court of Germany (Bundesverfassungsgericht), the highest court in Germany.
Reiner Kunze is a German writer and GDR dissident. He studied media and journalism at the University of Leipzig. In 1968, he left the GDR state party SED following the communist Warsaw Pact countries invasion of Czechoslovakia in response to the Prague Spring. He had to publish his work under various pseudonyms. In 1976, his most famous book The Lovely Years, which contained critical insights into the life, and the policies behind the Iron Curtain, was published in West Germany to great acclaim. In 1977, the GDR regime expatriated him, and he moved to West Germany (FRG). He now lives near Passau in Bavaria.
Wenzel Jaksch was a Sudeten German Social Democrat politician and the president of the Federation of Expellees in 1964 to 1966.
Joachim Wilhelm Gauck is a German politician and civil rights activist who served as President of Germany from 2012 to 2017. A former Lutheran pastor, he came to prominence as an anti-communist civil rights activist in East Germany.
Joachim Milberg is a German engineer and manager who served as CEO of Bayerischen Motorenwerke AG (BMW). He was Chairman of the Supervisory Board of BMW until July 2015.
Werner Brinkmann was a German executive who served as the executive director and sole member of the board of Stiftung Warentest till 2011, the German foundation and consumer organisation, which was established in 1964.
Ernst-Ludwig Winnacker is a German geneticist, biochemist and research manager. His main fields of research are virus/cell interaction, the mechanisms of gene expression in higher cells and prion diseases. He was President of the German Research Foundation and Secretary General of the European Research Council and is Secretary General of the Human Frontier Science Program Organization.
Meinhard Miegel is a German political scientist. He is known for his work on the conditions of the economy and society. He co-founded the Institut für Wirtschaft und Gesellschaft with Kurt Biedenkopf in 1977, and served as a Professor at the University of Leipzig from 1992. He became a member of the European Academy of Sciences and Arts in 1994, received the Corine Literature Prize in 2002, the Hanns Martin Schleyer Prize in 2004 and the Theodor Heuss Prize in 2005.
The Hanns Martin Schleyer Foundation is a German foundation that promotes research in economics, law and cultural sciences. It was established in 1977 by the Confederation of German Employers' Associations (BDA) and the Federation of German Industries (BDI).
Friedrich Bohl is a former German politician. From 1991 to 1998 he was the chief of the Federal Chancellery and Federal Minister for Special Affairs. He was the member of Fourth Kohl cabinet and Fifth Kohl cabinet. He succeeded Rudolf Seiters on 26 November 1991.
Nicola Leibinger-Kammüller is a German businesswoman. She is the president and chairwoman of the Managing Board of the Trumpf GmbH + Co. KG, of which she has been a member since 2003, after having joined the company in 1985 as a public relations and branding specialist.
Wilhelmine Lübke was a German teacher and the wife of Heinrich Lübke. When he became President of the Federal Republic of Germany in 1959, she represented the country internationally. She founded the Kuratorium Deutsche Altershilfe and was president of the Müttergenesungswerk. The Wilhelmine-Lübke-Preis is named after her.
