The association honors the Nobel laureate in chemistry, director of the Max Planck Institute (MPI) for Multidisciplinary Natural Sciences in Göttingen and MBExC member for his special services to science. Admission to the Order is one of the highest honors that can be bestowed on researchers or artists in Germany. In addition to Hell, the conductor and musicologist Peter Gülke, the philosopher Jürgen Habermas and the British architect Sir David Chipperfield were also accepted. The decision was announced by the Chancellor of the Order, Hermann Parzinger, on June 22.
