My father received Germany’s Federal Cross of Merit today. A reflection on five decades of civic engagement in a small Hessian town.
Today, in the Hessian State Chancellery in Wiesbaden, my father Michael Duschka received the Verdienstkreuz am Bande — the Cross of Merit on Ribbon of the Federal Republic of Germany. State Secretary Manuela Strube presented the award on behalf of Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier, recognizing nearly five decades of civic engagement in and around Lauterbach, a small town of about 13,000 in the rural Vogelsberg district of central Hesse.
I was there with my mother, my wife, and my son. Three generations, watching the fourth dimension of what one person’s commitment to community can look like over a lifetime.
What the Bundesverdienstkreuz Is
For readers outside Germany: the Bundesverdienstorden is the only federal decoration in Germany. Established in 1951 by President Theodor Heuss, it recognizes outstanding service to the nation — in political, economic, cultural, intellectual, or honorary fields. The Cross of Merit on Ribbon (am Bande) is one of the most common classes, but “common” is relative: in a country of 84 million, only a few thousand are awarded each year. It is, in every sense, an honor reserved for people whose contributions go well beyond what anyone could reasonably expect.
A Life of Service, Twice Over
My father spent over 30 years as a police officer in the Vogelsberg region — leading investigation units in Alsfeld and Lauterbach, heading the central services division, and eventually commanding the police station in Lauterbach along with the substations in Schotten and Schlitz. He retired in 2006 as Erster Polizeihauptkommissar.
But the Cross of Merit wasn’t awarded for his professional career. It was awarded for everything he did alongside it and after it.
There is a word in German that doesn’t translate well: Ehrenamt. Literally “office of honor,” it refers to voluntary civic engagement — but it carries a weight that “volunteering” doesn’t quite capture in English. Ehrenamt is the backbone of German civil society, particularly in small towns and rural areas where professional structures are thin and community cohesion depends on people who simply show up, year after year.
My father showed up for nearly 50 years.
The Arc of Engagement
It started with the traffic safety association (Verkehrswacht) in the 1970s, where he served as treasurer and later managing director. Then came local politics — city council, municipal committees, utility board commissions. From 2007, he chaired the senior citizens’ advisory council in Lauterbach, transforming it into something unusual in the German landscape: a freely elected body (not appointed, as in most cities) with its own bylaws, the right to propose motions, and — remarkably — speaking rights in the city parliament. For over a decade, he gave seniors a formal, democratic voice in local governance.
When the refugee crisis reached rural Hesse in 2015 and 2016, the mayor of Lauterbach asked my father to coordinate the city’s response as a volunteer. He was 69 at the time. He said yes. As honorary refugee coordinator, he organized support for Iranian, Syrian, and Ethiopian families — navigating healthcare bureaucracies, arranging housing, training city hall staff in intercultural communication. He later said the experience had opened a window to cultures and continents he might never have explored otherwise.
Since 2014, he has served on the supervisory board of Kompass Leben e.V., an organization dedicated to enabling people with disabilities to live self-determined lives with meaningful participation in the workforce. The State Secretary described his work there as carried out “with unparalleled dedication.”
A Personal Footnote
I should mention how the political chapter of this story began. When I was 18, I was elected to the Lauterbach city parliament and became chairman of the local Junge Union. Four years later, I left for military service and university — first TU Darmstadt, then eventually Stanford. My father ran for the seat I had vacated. What was a brief chapter for me became his life’s work. He served as city councilor, committee member, and eventually senior advisor for nearly three decades.
I sometimes think about the different paths civic engagement can take across generations. Mine led me into technology, data governance, and the corporate world. His kept him rooted in the place where he could make the most tangible difference — one committee meeting, one refugee family, one accessibility seminar at a time.
“The Strength We Have in Excess”
In his acceptance speech today, my father thanked the people who had walked alongside him — his wife (my mother), the mayor, the fellow volunteers. He spoke about how each engagement had led him deeper into new territory, and how the Ehrenamt had enriched his own life as much as the lives of those he served.
He closed with words that have stayed with him:
“And the strength we have in excess, we give to those who need our help and love.”
I can think of no better summary of a life lived in service to others.
Congratulations, Papa.
The official press release from the Hessian Ministry of Labor, Integration, Youth and Social Affairs is available here.