“Mr. Herman has been advocating Czech-German understanding and reconciliation for several decades and is one of the personalities who has influenced and is influencing this process,” said Israng, who added photos from the ceremony to his Twitter post.
–
Today, the Grand Federal Cross of Merit with the star was presented to Mr. Daniel Herman. Mr. Herman has been advocating Czech-German understanding and reconciliation for several decades and is one of the personalities who has influenced and is influencing this process. @DanielDherman pic.twitter.com/LyrYl32vUx
– Christoph Israng (@velvyslanec_SRN) September 7, 2020
–
The Grand Federal Cross of Merit with a star is the middle of the nine classes of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany, which is the only German federal award. Germany awards him for important acts in political, economic, cultural, spiritual or public benefit activities.
–
The first Czech minister at the Sudeten German Parliament
In the past, the Grand Federal Cross of Merit with the star was awarded to, for example, former Minister of Culture Pavel Tigrid (2000), writer and diplomat Jiří Gruša (2006) or former ambassador to Germany and current director of the Foreign Department of the Office of the President Rudolf Jindrák (2014).
–
Herman was the Minister of Culture in the government of Bohuslav Sobotka in 2014-2017. In the past, he was also a deputy, director of the Institute for the Study of Totalitarian Regimes and a spokesman for the Czech Bishops’ Conference. He also worked in Czech-German organizations and was a co-founder of the Czech-German discussion forum. In 2016, he was the first Czech minister to speak at the Sudeten German Parliament in Nuremberg.
—
