Following the 1949 establishment of the German Democratic Republic (GDR), the new state prohibited the wearing of all pre-1945 German decorations and created a new system of awards inspired in part by those of the USSR.
After German reunification in 1990, former soldiers of the East German military (which had been called the Nationale Volksarmee or NVA) transferring into the new unified German military (called the Bundeswehr) could wear NVA awards. However, the list of Bundeswehr-approved East German decorations was limited and fell under regulations for "foreign" decorations. Awards associated with some East German state agencies or Communist organizations were considered to be in breach of public order and not allowed to be worn. Those included decorations issued by the Ministry for State Security, Border Troops, , Combat Groups of the Working Class, GST and the FDJ.
In total, there were 142 East German state decorations and medals and over 10.000 by non-state mass organisations. Every GDR citizen received on average ten awards in their lifetime. The inflationary use of awards increased from the 1970s onwards, and most even mid-level Socialist Unity Party functionaries receiving multiple variants of the same award.
These were awarded to Free German Youth (F.D.J.) members;
These were conferred by the Socialist Unity Party (S.E.D.);
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