Election to the Order of Merit for Science and the Arts is one of the highest honours for scientists and artists in Germany. In addition, Christoph Markschies was awarded the Grand Cross of Merit with Star of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany by Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier in recognition of his outstanding work.
About the person
Christoph Markschies, President of the Berlin-Brandenburg Academy of Sciences and Humanities since 2020 and President of the Union of German Academies of Sciences and Humanities since 2022, is Professor of Ancient Christianity at Humboldt-Universität. He studied theology, classical philology and philosophy at the universities of Marburg, Munich and Tübingen, as well as at the Dormition Abbey in Jerusalem, and obtained his doctorate and habilitation at the University of Tübingen. From 2006 to 2010, he was President of Humboldt University.
Christoph Markschies is a member of six academies of sciences as well as various scientific advisory boards. He has been a fellow at several Institutes for Advanced Study. Since 2024, he has been a Distinguished Fellow at the Hebrew University. Among other honours, he has received the Leibniz Prize from the German Research Foundation and the Federal Cross of Merit, First Class, and has been awarded three honorary doctorates.
Order of Pour le Mérite
The association was founded in 1842 by King Frederick William IV of Prussia. Its first Chancellor was the naturalist Alexander von Humboldt. In 1952, the Order was revived by Federal President Theodor Heuss and has since been under the patronage of the Federal President. The Minister of State for Culture and Media is responsible for the organisational management of the Order. The Order has 36 domestic and 37 foreign members, including 17 Nobel laureates. Alongside Christoph Markschies, marine biologist Prof. Dr Antje Boetius and singer-songwriter and poet Wolf Biermann were elected as domestic members of the Order last autumn. Together with the French art historian and philosopher Prof. Georges Didi-Huberman, the Swiss chemist Prof. Dr Michael Grätzel, the Hungarian writer Péter Nádas, the Israeli Arabist Prof. Dr Sarah Stroumsa and the physician Prof. Dr Uǧur Şahin, they were formally welcomed as new members.