Hellmut Fischmeister was elected as a foreign member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Engineering Sciences in 1975. In 1981, he was elected as a corresponding member of the Austrian Academy of Sciences and was a member of the Academia Europaea since 1989. In 1995, he became a full member of the mathematical-natural sciences class of the Austrian Academy of Sciences.
* 1969: Knight of the Royal Order of the North Star
* 1991: Honorary doctorate from the Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm
* 1992: Honorary doctorate from Graz University of Technology
* 1997: Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany, Cross of Merit 1st Class
* 2007: Honorary doctorate from the University of Leoben
* 2010: Austrian Cross of Honour for Science and Art, 1st class
* 2010: Honorary member of the German Materials Society (Deutsche Gesellschaft für Materialkunde)