For his work as a Cultural initiator and manager Jochen Sandig, director of the Ludwigsburg Schlossfestspiele, was awarded the Bundesverdienstkreuz (Federal Cross of Merit) in January 2023. Berlin’s Governing Mayor Franziska Giffey presented him with the Cross of Merit on ribbon on behalf of Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier and emphasized his contribution to the development of an open intercultural music and dance scene in Berlin.

In Ludwigsburg, Jochen Sandig has been the artistic director of the Schlossfestspiele since 2019. As a director, he inspired the 2022 festival season with his staging of the »Human Requiem« in the Stuttgart Liederhalle, a production that received an overwhelming resonance worldwide.