Former German chancellor Angela Merkel was awarded the North Rhine Westphalian State Prize at a ceremony in Cologne on Tuesday.
The president of the European Central Bank, Christine Lagarde, gave the laudatory speech.
The State Prize, founded in 1986, is the highest award of the state of North Rhine Westphalia. Previous winners include the racing driver Michael Schumacher, former environment minister Klaus Töpfer and women's rights activist Alice Schwarzer.
State Premier Hendrik Wüst emphasized in his speech that the State Prize award ceremony was not a "canonization."
He pointed out that it is legitimate to view politicians' decisions critically. Top politicians often have to make decisions under pressure, and the best solution is usually not an option.
However, Merkel always made her decisions on the basis of comprehensible facts and arguments and took responsibility for them, Wüst asserted.
He said that Merkel had successfully steered Germany through many crises during her 16 years in power.
He also cited "her extraordinary humanitarian achievements and her outstanding services to Germany's standing in the world."
Lagarde praised Merkel as a political exception. She is "unique, incomparable, inimitable." Lagarde described Merkel as a triad of scientist, pragmatist and moral authority.
Lagarde said that Merkel, who holds a doctorate in physics, has always maintained the curiosity and diligence of a researcher. This had allowed her to penetrate the most complex problems and find solutions to them.
Merkel always follows a clear "moral compass," Lagarde added. "People in Germany and in Europe can be proud to have had a politician of such character."
Merkel donated her prize money of €25,000 ($27,000) to the Blue and Yellow Cross association in Cologne, which supports the victims of the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine.
In April, Merkel was awarded the highest possible level of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany.
