* 1984 "Physics Award" of the German Physical Society (together with Gottfried Münzenberg, Willibrord Reisdorf and Karl-Heinz Schmidt)
* 1996 Otto Hahn Prize of the City of Frankfurt am Main (together with Gottfried Münzenberg)
* 1996 "Doctor honoris causa" of the Faculty of Mathematics and Physics, Comenius University of Bratislava, Slovakia
* 1997 "G.N. Flerov Prize" of the Joint Institute for Nuclear Research (JINR) in Dubna, Russia
* 1998 "Honorary Professor" of the Goethe University in Frankfurt am Main, Germany
* 1998 "SUN-AMCO Medal" of the International Union of Pure and Applied Physics
* 2001 "Doctor honoris causa" of the Joint Institute for Nuclear Research (JINR) in Dubna, Russia
* 2002 "First Prize" of the Joint Institute for Nuclear Research (JINR) in Dubna, Russia
* 2004 "Distinguished Professor" of the Josef Buchmann Foundation and the Department of Physics of the Goethe University in Frankfurt am Main, Germany
* 2006 "Roentgen Medal" of the City of Remscheid-Lennep, Germany, place of birth of Conrad Roentgen
* 2009 "Helmholtz Professor" of the Helmholtz Association of German Research Centres (HGF) 
* 2011 "Nicolaus Copernicus Medal" of the Polish Academy of Sciences in Warsaw, Poland
* 2011 "Medal of the City of Torun" and Nicolaus Copernicus University in Torun, Poland