Georg Büchner Prize
| Georg Büchner Prize | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Country | Germany |
| Presented by | Deutsche Akademie für Sprache und Dichtung |
| Reward(s) | €50,000 |
| First awarded | 1923 |
| Official website | http://www.deutscheakademie.de |
The Georg Büchner Prize (German: Georg-Büchner-Preis) is—along with the Goethe Prize—the most important literary prize for the German language. The award is named after Georg Büchner, author of Woyzeck. The Georg Büchner Prize is awarded annually for authors "writing in the German language who have notably emerged through their oeuvre as essential contributors to the shaping of contemporary German cultural life".[1] Similar prizes are the Miguel de Cervantes Prize for authors writing in the Spanish language, and the Camões Prize awarded to writers in the Portuguese language.
History
The Georg Büchner Prize was created in 1923 in memory of Georg Büchner and was only given to artists who came from or were closely tied to Büchner's home of Hesse. It was first awarded in 1923. Among the early recipients were mostly visual artists, poets, actors, and singers.[2]
In 1951, the prize changed to a general literary prize, awarded annually by the Deutsche Akademie für Sprache und Dichtung. It goes to German language authors, and the annual speech by the recipient takes place in Darmstadt. Since 2002, the prize has been endowed with €50,000.
The Georg Büchner Prize and the Nobel Prize in Literature
Four winners of the Georg Büchner Prize, Günter Grass (1965), Heinrich Böll (1967), Elias Canetti (1972), and Elfriede Jelinek (1998) were awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in subsequent years. The Georg Büchner Prize is frequently seen as an indicator for potential future Nobel Prize winners writing in the German language. Most recently, however, the Swedish Academy in Stockholm preceded the German Academy for Language and Literature in awarding a prolific writer from the German sprachraum. Herta Müller received the Nobel Prize in Literature but has not yet been awarded the Georg Büchner Prize. Other writers who were omitted but received the Nobel Prize in Literature were Thomas Mann, Hermann Hesse, and Nelly Sachs.
Recipients of the literary prize, since 1951
Recipients 1923–1950
- 1950 Elisabeth Langgässer (1899–1950)
- 1948 Hermann Heiss (1897–1967)
- 1947 Anna Seghers (1900–1983)
- 1946 Fritz Usinger (1895–1982)
- 1945 Hans Schiebelhuth (1895–1944)
- 1933–1944 not given
- 1932 Albert H. Rausch (1882–1949)
- 1930 Nikolaus Schwarzkopf (1884–1962)
- 1929 Carl Zuckmayer (1896–1977)
- 1927 Kasimir Edschmid (1890–1966)
- 1925 Wilhelm Michel (1877–1942)
- 1924 Alfred Bock (1859–1932)
- 1923 Adam Karrillon (1853–1938)
See also
Notes
- ↑ "Georg-Büchner-Preis". Translated from Deutsche Akademie für Sprache und Dichtung. Retrieved 31 May 2012.
- ↑ "Georg-Büchner-Preis". Deutsche Akademie für Sprache und Dichtung. Retrieved 31 May 2012.
- ↑ "Sibylle Lewitscharoff wins 2013 Georg Büchner prize". Deutsche Welle. 4 June 2013. Retrieved June 5, 2013.
- ↑ "Rainald Goetz: Top German literature prize goes to edgy ex-doctor". Deutsche Welle. 8 July 2015. Retrieved 9 July 2015.
- ↑ "Top German literature prize goes to Marcel Beyer". Deutsche Welle. 28 June 2016. Retrieved 29 June 2016.
External links
- Georg-Büchner-Preis, official site (German)