David Chipperfield is one of four people to have been elected to Orden Pour le Mérite, one of the highest honours that can be bestowed on a scientist or artist in Germany. He joins conductor Peter Gülke, philosopher Jürgen Habermas and physicist Stefan Hell as one of 39 German and 38 foreign members. The decision was made by the Chapter of the Order at its meeting in Berlin on 18 June and announced by its Chancelor Professor Hermann Parzinger.
The Association of Artists and Scholars was founded in 1842 by Prussian King Friedrich Wilhelm IV and revived in 1952 by Federal President Theodor Heuss.