Berlin, 18 April 2023 (dpa/MIA) - Former German chancellor Angela Merkel was honoured with Germany's Order of Merit with a special design on Monday, presented by German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier who paid tribute to her as an "unparalleled politician."

Merkel successfully steered Germany through many crises, Steinmeier said at the ceremony at Bellevue Palace in Berlin.

"You helped our country achieve economic success anew under unprecedented challenges," he said.

Merkel thanked those she had invited to the ceremony for helping her survive the "snake pit of politics" during her 16-year tenure as chancellor.

Steinmeier said how pleased he was to honour Merkel with this "exceptional order," he said, referring to the special class of the Grand Cross First Class of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany.

So far, only former chancellors Konrad Adenauer and Helmut Kohl have received Germany's highest possible honour.

"To honour you, dear chancellor, for your exceptionally long term in office and for your extraordinary political life, in which you used the experience of dictatorship so convincingly to strengthen democracy," Steinmeier said.

Merkel had served Germany for 16 years with ambition, wisdom and passion, Steinmeier said. "For 16 long years, they worked for freedom and democracy, for our country and the well-being of its people. Tirelessly and sometimes to the limits of your physical strength," he added.

He also commended her for her lack of vanity and posturing.

During her term of office, she faced a series of crises and exceptional situations such as the banking and euro crises or the pandemic, sometimes at the same time, he said. Lawmakers had not always agreed on how to handle the crises.

"But not many countries have survived this phase as well as Germany," he said.

Germany can look back on 16 years of almost uninterrupted economic growth, he said, adding that unemployment was also less of a problem now.

Steinmeier also addressed Merkel's Russia policy, an area that has been more widely criticized since the Kremlin's full-scale invasion of Ukraine more than a year ago. Many suggested Merkel's government had not been sufficiently critical of Moscow and had allowed Germany to become excessively dependent on Russian energy imports, for example, especially as Berlin was hastening to reduce that dependency and find alternative sources of power.

The president noted that as Merkel's foreign minister for some of her time in power, he was jointly responsible for their Russian policy.

It is true that in 2014, at Kiev's request, Germany threw its weight behind a ceasefire agreement and negotiations to restore Ukraine's territorial integrity, he said, referring to Moscow'S annexation of Crimea.

But the epochal break caused by Russia's brutal war on Ukraine "demands new thinking from all of us, forces us to review positions," Steinmeier said.

Merkel did not respond to Steinmeier's tribute but commented that then as now, "the words of the federal president stand for themselves."

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz also participated in the award ceremony, for which Merkel thanked him in particular, saying this also showed "that we have always tried to work well together even when we had differences of opinion."

Merkel invited a total of 20 guests to the small ceremony and dinner. Alongside family members, the former chancellor also asked some of her political supporters to attend. Her guest list included supporters such as former chancellery heads Thomas de Maizière, Ronald Pofalla, Peter Altmaier and Helge Braun, all likewise members of the Christian Democrats (CDU). However, she did not invite the current leaders of the CDU, or its sister party the Christian Social Union, or the pro-business FDP.

When asked about this, the CDU'S chairman Friedrich Merz said briefly that the award and the guest list were Steinmeier's and Merkel's "sovereign decision."

The party's secretary general Mario Czaja, however, pointed to Merkel's merits, saying, "we are pleased that she is receiving this special honour."

Merkel was chancellor from 2005 to 2021.