Overview
- Minister-President Markus Söder conferred the Bavarian Maximiliansorden on December 3 at the Antiquarium of the Munich Residenz.
- The nine honorees were Ralph Siegel, Martina Gedeck, Herlinde Koelbl, Rachel Salamander, Ulrich Walter, Bernd Huber, Georg Ertl, Maria-Elena Torres-Padilla and Jörg Vogel.
- Siegel, an 80-year-old composer behind Germany’s 1982 Eurovision winner, marked the occasion by giving Söder a golden microphone.
- Walter, the fifth German to fly in space, was recognized for his life’s work after a post-flight career researching and teaching at the Technical University of Munich before retiring in 2023.
- The order, founded in 1853 and regularly awarded since 1981, was presented for the 21st time and is currently given every two years.