As part of a festive ceremony in the “Wassersaal” of the Orangery in Erlangen, Wolfgang Hoderlein, holder of the Bavarian Order of Merit, received the highest order of merit of the Federal Republic of Germany awarded at first bestowal.

The Bavarian State Ministry of the Interior has given the following reasons for the presentation:

“Wolfgang Hoderlein (59) from Kulmbach has been exceedingly committed at all levels of local and regional politics throughout Bavaria for more than 30 years. From 1978 to 1998, he was City Councilor for Stadtsteinach [...] Between 2002 and 2004, Hoderlein was City Councilor for the major district town of Kulmbach. In 1984, he was elected to the County Council of the administrative district of Kulmbach. [...] In 2008, he was elected for the first time to the Regional Authority Council of Upper Franconia (Bezirkstag Oberfranken) and thus also became Parliamentary Party Leader of his faction. [...] Between 1990 and 2008, he supported the cause of the region and the population as a citizen-oriented and courageous member of the Bavarian State Parliament (Landtag). In addition, he has held numerous party-political offices at local, district, or regional level. From 1996 to 2000, he had been General Secretary of the SPD in Bavaria (BayernSPD) before leading the party as Chairperson from 2000 to 2003. His relentless efforts for social concerns within the Workers’ Welfare Association (Arbeiterwohlfahrt) deserve a special mention. [...] Wolfgang Hoderlein’s name is associated with numerous projects and initiatives, and he gave his attention especially to pedagogy-oriented institutions.”