On 1st December Hessian Prime Minister Volker Bouffier awarded Professor Harald Müller, Executive Director of the Peace Research Institute Frankfurt (PRIF), Professor Raphael Gross, director of the Fritz Bauer Institute and the Jewish Museum in Frankfurt, as well as the director of the German Poland Institute, Professor Dr. Dieter Bingen, with the Wilhelm Leuschner Medal.
In his laudatory speech at the Biebrich Palace in Wiesbaden the head of government declared: "Today we honour three academics who have rendered outstanding services to different areas of research. They are united by the fact that their work has turned them into ambassadors of peace and reconciliation. Their teachings show us that our peace-loving society is not a given and our values have to be defended time and again. They are role models and provide orientation to other people.
The professors Raphael Gross, Harald Müller and Dieter Bingen are democrats in the spirit of Wilhelm Leuschner and worthy recipients of the highest distinction that our state awards", according to the Prime Minister. "The highest award of our state goes to three outstanding humanities scholars this year. They are enlighteners who with their work lay the basis for a pluralistic and tolerant society. Thereby they provide an invaluable service to our democracy", said Hessian Prime Minister Volker Bouffier.
The medal was donated in 1964 by the Prime Minister at that time Georg August Zinn and has been awarded since 1965. It goes to personages who have taken a stand for democracy in an exemplary and lasting manner and have left an imprint on our state, our society and our culture. It is named after the Hessian Interior Minister and resistance fighter Wilhelm Leuschner who was murdered in 1944.
Image source: state chancellery of Hesse/Sebastian Trapp
Words of thanks by Harald Müller on the occasion of the awarding of the Wilhelm Leuschner medal (PDF; German)
Picture gallery of the award ceremony on the website of the state chancellery of Hesse
A report on the award ceremony and a portrait of Harald Müller was released in the HR-Hessenschau on 1st December (German)