- known as
- politician, physicist, statesperson, chemist
- fields
- politics, theoretical chemistry, analytical chemistry, physics
- degrees
- Doctor of Natural Sciences
- awards
- Charlemagne Prize, 2008, Grand Cross of the Order of the Sun of Peru, 2008, Grand Cross of the Order of Prince Henry, 2009, Presidential Medal of Freedom, 2011, Eric M. Warburg Award, 2009, German Media Award, 2009, Leo-Baeck-Medal, 2010, Heinz-Galinski-Award, 2012, Knight Grand Cross of the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic, 2006, German Leo Baeck Award, 2007, Grand Cross 1st class of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany, 2008, Jawaharlal Nehru Award for International Understanding, 2009, Indira Gandhi Peace Prize, 2013, Robert Schuman Medal, 2007, Abraham Geiger Prize, 2015, Time Person of the Year, 2015, Honorary doctor at the Nanjing University, 2016, Order of the Republic, 2015, Grand Cross of Royal Norwegian Order of Merit, 2007, Order of Stara Planina, Order of Zayed, honorary doctor of the Leipzig University, 2008, honorary doctor of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, 2007, honorary doctor of the Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, 2017, Honorary doctors of Ghent University, 2017, honorary doctor of Tel Aviv University, 2011, Grand Cross of Honor for Services to the Republic of Austria, 2015, honorary doctor of Babeș-Bolyai University, 2010, Honorary doctor at the University of Bern, 2009, honorary doctor of Harvard University, 2019, Lucius D. Clay Medal, 2009, Henry A. Kissinger Prize, 2020, honorary doctor of Comenius University, 2014, honorary doctor of the D. Mendeleev University of Chemical Technology of Russia, Commander's Cross of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany, 1996, honorary doctor of Wrocław University of Science and Technology, 2008, Presidential Medal of Distinction, 2014, Ehrenplakette des Bundes der Vertriebenen, 2014, Wilhelm Leuschner Medal, 2014, Financial Times Person of the Year, 2015, Four Freedoms Award – Freedom Medal, 2016, Order of Vytautas the Great, 2017, Eugen Bolz Prize, 2017, Grand Cross of the Order of the White Double Cross, 2019, honorary citizen of Templin, 2019, Order of the Three Stars, 2019, Buber Rosenzweig Medal, 2020, Order of the Cross of Terra Mariana, 1st Class, 2021, honorary doctor of Johns Hopkins University, 2021, Supreme Order of the Renaissance, 2021, Order of Liberty, 2021, Grand Cordon of the Order of Leopold, 2021, Grand Cross of the Legion of Honour, 2021, Knight Grand Cross in the Order of the Netherlands Lion, 2021, Félix Houphouët-Boigny Peace Prize, 2022, Nansen Refugee Award, 2022, Grand Cross special issue of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany, special issue, 2023, State Prize of North Rhine-Westphalia, 2023, Grand Collar of the Order of Prince Henry, 2021, Bavarian Order of Merit, 2023, European Civil Rights Prize of the Sinti and Roma, 2021, Grand Collar of the Order of Prince Henry, Decoration for Exceptional Merits, 2021, Grand Cross of the Order of Merit of the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, Vision for Europe Award, Charles V European Award, honorary doctorate from Sciences Po, 2023, honorary doctorate of the Weizmann Institute of Science, 2025, Distinguished Member of the European Order of Merit, 2026, Collar of the Order of Abdul Aziz Al Saud
- member of
- Atlantik-Brücke, Rotary Club, Free German Youth, Cabinet Kohl IV, 1991 to 1994, Cabinet Kohl V, 1994 to 1998, First Merkel cabinet, 2005 to 2009, Second Merkel cabinet, 2009 to 2013, Third Merkel cabinet, 2013 to 2018, Fourth Merkel cabinet, 2018 to 2021
- notable works
- Examination of the mechanism of decays with singular bond breaking and calculation of their coefficient of reaction rate on the basis of quantum mechanical and statistical methods
