Paul Merker died in 1969, and his rehabilitation was clearly complete when the state reacted by posthumously awarding him the Patriotic Order of Merit (Gold / 1st class). His ashes were placed with those of others honoured by The Party, at the Socialists' Memorial in the Friedrichsfelde Central Cemetery at Lichtenberg (Berlin). A further mark of official approval came five years later, in 1974, when Paul Merker's face appeared on a ten Pfennig postage stamp.
