On Medals and Prizes

There is a strange fascination with personal medals and decorations. 

The Golden Fleece hangs from the neck of Emperor Maximilian I.
Statue at the Historisches Kaufhaus in Freiburg

Three such decorations immediately come to mind: the Order of the Golden Fleece, founded by the Dukes of Burgundy and bestowed upon the potentates of Europe ...

Seen on Schloss Friedenstein on my recent trip to Gotha.
A small elephant hangs from the coat of arms of the Princes of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha.

... the Order of the Elephant, awarded by the Danish royal family and coveted by rulers ...

   

Charles Maurice de Talleyrand-Périgord, turning his mill with the wind, wears,
among other decorations, the Order of the Garter.
He is depicted as a man with six heads who served six political directions:
 Bishop of Autun, member of the National Assembly, and Secretary of State
 under the Directory, the First Consul, Emperor Napoleon, and King Louis XVIII.

... and finally, the Order of the Garter, an honor that recipients proudly wear on their legs.

Napoleon knew about the vanity of people and used personal awards in a targeted manner to motivate his grenadiers, for external distinctions and medals are more reliable than grand speeches. He understood the psychological power of decorations, viewing them as a means of manipulation rather than a valid moral reward. Subsequently, he instituted the Legion of Honor in 1802, decorating his generals and civilians alike. 

Nevertheless, Napoleon mocked when he stated, "C'est avec des hochets que l'on mène les hommes (It is with rattles that men are led)." On the other hand, he defended his Legion of Honor against republican critics, "Je défie qu'on me montre une République, ancienne ou moderne, qui sache mieux récompenser les services (I challenge anyone to show me a republic, ancient or modern, that knows how to reward service better)." He regarded decorations as a necessary political and social means for rulers. 

Napoleon's cynical pragmatism culminates in his remark, "On gouverne mieux les hommes par leurs vices que par leurs vertus (Men are better governed by their vices than by their virtues)." 

Even Goethe was not immune to the desire for awards. Napoleon recognized his importance and invited him to the Fürstenkongress in Erfurt. Our national poet felt flattered when the French emperor greeted him with, "Vous êtes un homme", and asked him, "Quel âge avez-vous?" Goethe bowed, "Soixante ans, Sire", to which the emperor replied, "Vos avez bien gardé."*

*You are a man. How old are you? 60. You have kept yourself well. 

Then the two men talked about literature and theater. Napoleon, who had begun a novel about suicide in his youth, claiming that he had read Die Leiden des jungen Werther seven times, criticized a passage from Goethe's successful epistolary novel as being out of touch with nature. Goethe smiled, agreed with the emperor, but defended his work.  

When Napoleon awarded Goethe, along with Wieland and other important dignitaries, the Knight's Cross of the Legion of Honor* on October 14, 1808, the Tsar did not want to be outdone and presented the poet with the Order of St. Anne the following day.

*The Légion d'Honneur is divided into five classes: Grand Cross, Grand Officer, Commander, Officer, and Knight. Goethe wore the lowest rank, the Croix du Chevalier de la Légion d'Honneur, the Knight's Cross of the Legion of Honor. 

Goethe didn't see the political calculation behind the Corsican's charm offensive, namely to appease Germany. Deeply moved, Goethe wrote to his publisher Cotta, "I readily admit that nothing in my life could have been more exalting and gratifying than to stand before the French emperor in such a manner. Without going into the details of the conversation, I can say that never before has a superior received me in such a manner, treating me with special trust, if I may use the expression, and making it clear that my character was to his liking. He then dismissed me with particular kindness and continued the conversation in the same vein the second time in Weimar, so that in these strange times, I at least have the personal reassurance that wherever I meet him again, I will find him to be my friendly and gracious lord. How valuable to me must be the sign he left behind, and how delightful the Russian addition to it: for who would not like to possess a monument to that important epoch, a sign of the union of two powers as great as they are distant, even if it were less flattering?"

Goethe proudly wears the Cross of the Legion of Honor

So far, so good, but Goethe's contemporaries noted with unease that the poet continued to wear the Legion of Honor cross visibly on his lapel even after the Wars of Liberation. Wilhelm von Humboldt wrote," Goethe never goes anywhere without the Legion Cross, and he always refers to the person who gave it to him as 'my emperor.'"

Many scholars argue that Goethe wore the cross in defiance because his efforts to receive a medal from Emperor Franz I had failed. 

 When the victorious allies entered Weimar on October 23, 1813, Goethe hosted the Austrian field marshal Joseph Count von Colloredo and his entourage. Goethe welcomed his guests wearing the Cross of the Legion of Honor on his chest. Colloredo exclaimed: "Good heavens, how can anyone wear such a thing!" Goethe did not want to upset his guest and instead quickly pinned the Russian Order of St. Anne, which he had also been awarded at the Fürstenkongress in Erfurt, to his tailcoat. 

After Colloredo's departure, Goethe exchanged the insignia again, because, according to Humboldt, one could not take off an order awarded by an emperor just because he had lost a battle. 

At the same time, however, he asked von Humboldt to obtain an Austrian order for him. Full of confidence, Goethe already drafted a letter of thanks and dated it 1813: The great undeserved honor, which has been unexpectedly bestowed upon me by His Imperial Majesty's highest grace, would have been of inestimable value at any time, but at the present moment its value is increased to infinity, as I see myself marking an epoch that will be unique in world history ... But it was not until 1815 that ... His Imperial Majesty, the Emperor in Vienna, deigned to bestow upon Goethe the Commander's Cross of the Austrian Imperial Order of Leopold by means of a letter from the cabinet issued at Speyer on June 28.

Let us turn to the Nobel Peace Prize, which the President of the United States so desperately wanted but ultimately did not receive.

"It's a scandal. Obama got the prize for nothing."

"I've ended six wars… all of these deals I made without even the mention of the word 'ceasefire'."

Will he be angry?

The Nobel Prize Committee had either miscounted the number of POTUS’ peace deals or taken issue with the term "ceasefire," which precedes a peace treaty.

Will he be comforted?

 
In fact, a ceasefire in the Middle East that everyone had been longing for has come into effect, ending the immeasurable suffering of the civilian population in the Gaza Strip.

 

POTUS wears the Ukrainian colors.
A premature announcement from the White House

If this ceasefire is followed by lasting peace, it would be only right and just to award President Trump the Nobel Peace Prize next year.

**