Pour le mérite: Anselm Kiefer and Marina Abramović inducted into the order

The scholarly association Pour le mérite has Prussian roots. The civilian variant of the military order of the same name was established in 1842 by Prussian King Friedrich Wilhelm IV. After the Second World War, it was revived in 1952 by Federal President Theodor Heuss and is thus one of the oldest and most prestigious awards of its kind in Germany.

The order has around 80 outstanding members from Germany and other countries, including many Nobel laureates. Only in May, singer-songwriter Wolf Biermann, among others, was ceremonially inducted into the association. Induction is accompanied by a ceremonial session at which the new members deliver their inaugural addresses.

Labeling system for AI music presented

Alongside the artistic inductions, further developments from the culture and media sector are attracting attention. Industry associations have presented a system for labeling music that has been created entirely or partly using artificial intelligence. The aim is to enable listeners to more clearly identify which pieces were produced entirely by AI and which were only partly created with it.

The music industry is pursuing the goal of creating transparency for consumers with the new labeling system. The associations are responding to the growing prevalence of AI-generated content on streaming platforms and in production. Two new labels specifically for AI music have been introduced in order to establish uniform labeling throughout the industry.

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Significance for art and science

For the artist Anselm Kiefer, known above all for his large-scale, often historically themed works, the induction represents a special honor from an institution that stands primarily for scientific and artistic excellence. Marina Abramović is regarded as one of the most influential performance artists of the present day and broadens the order's scope to include the living art form of performance.

With Ernst Fehr, one of the internationally best-known behavioral economists, and Angelika Nußberger, a distinguished expert in international law and a judge at the European Court of Human Rights, two scholars whose work attracts attention beyond specialist circles are joining the order. The mixture of art and science is programmatic for the Pour le mérite.

The induction of the four new members underscores the order's aspiration to honor both excellence in the humanities and social sciences and artistic innovation. The Pour le mérite thus remains one of the few awards in Germany that consciously builds bridges between disciplines.