Overview

• Minister-President Manuela Schwesig announced the award on August 27, citing Merkel’s personal commitment to Mecklenburg-Vorpommern.
• The presentation is scheduled for September 29 in Stralsund to coincide with the reopening of the fully renovated Deutsches Meeresmuseum.
• Schwesig pointed to Merkel’s support for preserving shipyards, expanding the Prora nature center with its treetop path on Rügen, building the Ozeaneum in Stralsund, and renovating the German Ocean Museum.
• Merkel represented the northern part of Vorpommern in the Bundestag from 1990 for three decades.
• Schwesig, who served as Merkel’s federal family minister from 2013 to 2017, praised her 16 years of leadership as chancellor.