Germany’s government on Wednesday handed over the medal of the prestigious Order of the Merit civilian award to Sister Annette Dimigen, a German national, for her dedicated service of nearly three decades to a leprosy hospital in Rawalpindi, the German embassy said in a statement.
German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier awarded the honor to Sister Annette on Apr. 29. The Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany, also known as the Federal Cross of Merit, is the highest tribute the nation can pay for outstanding achievements in political, economic, social, intellectual, and philanthropic fields.
Since 1997, Sister Annette has been in Pakistan’s garrison city of Rawalpindi, where she has performed various administrative tasks in and around the Rawalpindi Leprosy Hospital (RLH), also known as the German Leprosy Hospital.
“During a reception in Sister Annette Dimigen’s honor at the German Ambassador’s Residence in Islamabad on 17th June 2026, the medal of the Cross of Merit was handed over to her by German Ambassador Ina Lepel,” the statement said.
Sister Annette is a member of the Protestant Christian community of the Sisterhood of the Christ Bearers and also serves as the secretary-general of the Aid to Leprosy Patients (ALP) Association.
Born in 1964 in Hannover, Germany, Sister Annette studied agricultural engineering and after graduating, pursued a career as an agricultural inspector in Germany’s Baden-Württemberg region.
She joined the Community of the Sisterhood of the Christ Bearers, a Protestant congregation whose members vow celibacy, community of property and enlightened obedience, at the time.
In 1997, she volunteered to join three other sisters in Pakistan’s eastern city of Rawalpindi, where she was immediately entrusted with many administrative and other tasks in and around the RLH.
The RLH has 97 beds, treats 180.000 to 200.000 patients a year, out-patients included, Germany’s embassy in Pakistan said.
It is the only institution in the northern half of Pakistan that is treating leprosy, tuberculosis, Multidrug-Resistant Tuberculosis and Cutaneous Leishmaniasis, it added.
The German embassy said since 1997, Sister Annette has performed administrative tasks at the hospital with “utmost dedication in the spirit of charity and love for her fellow humans.”
“In Rawalpindi, Sister Annette has become one of the best Ambassadors Germany can have,” the embassy said.
“Her life-long dedication to the poorest and weakest, together with “Dr. Chris” and the other doctors, nurses and employees of the German Leprosy Hospital, continues to bring hope to hundreds of thousands of people and their families.”
The medal awarding ceremony at the German ambassador’s residence was attended by Sister Annette’s colleagues of the RLH, other bearers of the Order of Merit in Pakistan and by representatives of the national press.