Recipients of the Cross of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany

Günter Weitling (born 1935) is a Lutheran theologian, historian, and author.
Weitling was born in Haderslev, Haderslev County, Denmark. After graduating from Haderslev Katedralskole in 1955, he studied Theology and Eastern Studies at the Universities of Bethel/Bielefeld, Mainz, Kiel, and Copenhagen. This was followed by a study of pedagogy in Breklum and stay at the Seminary in Preetz. He then served as a Lutheran pastor from 1962 to 1963 in Jörl (a district of Schleswig-Flensburg), from 1963 to 1965 in Sønderborg, and from 1965 to 1970 at the Højdevangskirke in Copenhagen. At the same time, he completed a clerkship at the gymnasium of Tårnby in religion, history and archaeology. In 1970 he received his doctorate from the University of Kiel. From 1970 to 1987, he worked as inspector at the Danish gymnasium in Sønderborg. 1987 until his retirement in 2000 he served as pastor of the Danish Church of Denmark. At the same time, he worked as a lecturer at the "Institute for the History of the Church and Ecclesiastical Archaeology" at the University of Kiel. Weitling founded the Deutsches Museum in Northern Schleswig and from 1986 to 2003 served as its Scientific Director.
Since 1971, Günther Weitling has written and edited a large number of books and treatises, dealing mainly with the history of the Church and the history of the German minority in Northern Schleswig. In 2000 he was awarded the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany (German: Bundesverdienstkreuz) 1st Class, Germany's highest civilian honor.

Will Meisel (17 September 1897 – 29 April 1967) was a German composer, who wrote more than fifty film scores during his career. He also wrote several operettas including A Friend So Lovely as You (1930) (Eine Freundin so goldig wie du).

Richard Klemm (born 1902 in Dresden; died 1988 in Berlin) was a German cellist, composer and teacher.

Luise Wilhelmine Elisabeth Abegg (German: [eˈliːzabɛt ˈaːbɛk] ; 3 March 1882 – 8 August 1974) was a German educator and resistance fighter against Nazism. She provided shelter to around 80 Jews during the Holocaust and was consequently recognised as Righteous Among the Nations.

Leopold Engleitner (23 July 1905 – 21 April 2013) was an Austrian conscientious objector, as one of Jehovah's Witnesses, and a concentration camp survivor who spoke publicly and with students about his experiences. He was the subject of the documentary Unbroken Will. Before his death, Engleitner was the world's oldest known male concentration camp survivor (held in Buchenwald, Niederhagen and Ravensbrück), and the oldest male Austrian.

Jörg Immendorff (14 June 1945 – 28 May 2007) was a German painter, sculptor, stage designer and art professor. He was a member of the art movement Neue Wilde.