Award of the former chancellor
“I just want to say thank you”: Markus Söder honors Angela Merkel with the Bavarian Order of Merit
Only 2000 living people can receive the Bavarian Order of Merit – now Angela Merkel is one of them
© Sven Hoppe / DPA
Markus Söder thanks Angela Merkel for her special services in 16 years as Chancellor. As a bearer of the Bavarian Order of Merit, the former chancellor joins a manageable number of bearers.
Former Chancellor Angela Merkel (CDU) has received the Bavarian Order of Merit. “If you’re Chancellor for 16 years, 5,860 days, that’s how it was written down for me, to have survived and lived through that alone is an achievement,” said Bavaria’s Prime Minister Markus Söder (CSU) on Wednesday at the award ceremony in the Munich Residenz. It is the respect for a great lifetime achievement. “You have led us (…) through the most serious crises, crises that have shaken our country in an unforeseeable dimension.”
“It’s a great honor for me and yes, maybe it wasn’t in my cradle that you or that you, dear Markus Söder, awarded the Bavarian Order of Merit in this festive setting today,” Merkel said in her acceptance speech.
Söder thanks Merkel for her advice
Merkel has proven during her tenure that she had the courage and the compass to make difficult decisions, said Söder. This was the case with the financial crisis as well as with the phase-out of nuclear power and later with the migration crisis. “And everything may not be 100 percent perfect, some decisions can also be made with 60 to 40 or 51 to 49 percent.”
During the Corona crisis, Merkel was always on duty for Bavaria, which was particularly hard hit, and thus helped to save lives, said Söder, who personally thanked Merkel for her advice during this time. Bavaria in particular benefited from Merkel’s reign. “I just want to say thank you.”
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The Order of Merit has been awarded since 1957 “as a sign of honoring and grateful recognition for outstanding services to the Free State of Bavaria and the Bavarian people. The number of living recipients of the order is limited to 2000. The recipients of the order have recently included TV presenter Barbara Schöneberger, actor Christian Tramitz, triathlete Anne Haug and national soccer coach Hansi Flick.