Former Bayern Munich coach Ottmar Hitzfeld has received the German Football Association's (DFB) Lifetime Achievement Award.
On Thursday, Hitzfeld, 67, was presented with the accolade and followed in the footsteps of Dettmar Cramer, Udo Lattek, Gero Bisanz, Otto Rehhagel and Jupp Heynckes.
"It makes me enormously proud that I am in such esteemed company. To be awarded something as big as this was something I could never have dreamed of," he said on the association's official website.
"The award is a turning point for me, because if you are recognised for your life's work, it is easier to accept that your career is over and your job is finished."
Hitzfeld retired from his coaching career in 2014, when Switzerland suffered a 1-0 extra-time defeat against Argentina in the round of 16 in Sao Paulo on July 1.
Later that day, he had tears in his eyes as he told his postmatch news conference: "My coaching days are over now and I'm proud of what I've achieved."
Ottmar Hitzfeld vom #DFB für Lebenswerk geehrt ➡️ https://t.co/D1BU22akoh pic.twitter.com/iXWh1oEu8V
- DFB (Verband) (@DFB) March 9, 2016
The German started out his coaching career in Switzerland, where he was hugely successful at Zurich, winning back-to-back titles in 1990 and 1991.
Hitzfeld returned to his native Germany that year, and in the next six seasons oversaw Borussia Dortmund's rise in Europe.
He followed up back-to-back Bundesliga titles in 1995 and 1996 with the 1997 Champions League trophy, up until today the biggest cup ever to be paraded around the streets of Dortmund.
After vacating his place in the Dortmund dugout in 1997, he joined Bayern in 1998 and during two spells in Bavaria won five Bundesliga titles, three German cups as well as the 2001 Champions League trophy, after famously losing it to Manchester United in the final seconds of the 1999 final.
He finished his career in Switzerland, where he was in charge of the national team from 2008 through to 2014.