 In addition to awards to non-Germans, the Reich Foreign Minister and the Reich Protector of Bohemia and Moravia received a 'Special Degree' (Sonderstufe), with identical insignia to the Grand Cross of the Order.Accordingly, Foreign Minister Constantin von Neurath, received the Special Degree of the Order, with a further award to Joachim von Ribbentrop on his appointment as Foreign Minister in 1938.In 1943 Dr. Wilhelm Frick received the Special Degree after becoming Reich Protector of Bohemia and Moravia.