Georg Büchner Prize Explained

Georg Büchner Prize
Awarded For:	authors writing in the German language whose work is considered especially meritorious and who have made a significant contribution to contemporary German culture
Presenter:	Deutsche Akademie für Sprache und Dichtung
Location:	Darmstadt
Country:	Germany
Reward:	€50,000
Year:	1923

The Georg Büchner Prize (de|link=no|Georg-Büchner-Preis) is the most important literary prize for German language literature. The award is named after dramatist and writer Georg Büchner, author of Woyzeck and Leonce and Lena. 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]

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.^[2] It was first awarded in 1923. Among the early recipients were mostly visual artists, poets, actors, and singers.^[3]

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

Five winners of the Georg Büchner Prize, Günter Grass (1965), Heinrich Böll (1967), Elias Canetti (1972), Peter Handke (1973) and Elfriede Jelinek (1998) have been 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.^[4]

The 2024 Büchner Prize recipient is the South Tyrolean lyricist and poet Oswald Egger.^[5]

Recipients of the literary prize, since 1951

Year	Name	Nationality	Notes	Ref(s)
1951
1952	not given
1953
1954
1955
1956
1957
1958
1959
1960		/
1961
1962
1963
1964
1965
1966
1967
1968
1969
1970
1971
1972
1973			refunded the prize money in 1999 as a sign of protest against the NATO bombing of Yugoslavia
1974
1975		/
1976
1977
1978
1979			posthumous
1980
1981
1982			posthumous
1983
1984
1985
1986
1987
1988
1989
1990
1991
1992
1993
1994
1995
1996
1997
1998
1999
2000
2001
2002
2003
2004
2005
2006		/	posthumous
2007
2008
2009
2010
2011
2012
2013				^[6]
2014
2015				^[7]
2016				^[8]
2017				^[9]
2018				^[10]
2019				^[11]
2020				^[12]
2021				^[13]
2022		/		^[14]
2023				^[15]
2024				^[16]

Recipients 1923–50

• 1923 Adam Karrillon (1853–1938) and Arnold Mendelssohn (1855–1933)
• 1924 Alfred Bock (1859–1932) and (1882–1954)
• 1925 Wilhelm Michel (1877–1942) and Rudolf Koch (1876–1934)
• 1926 (1880–1954) and Wilhelm Petersen (1890–1957)
• 1927 Kasimir Edschmid (1890–1966) and (1890–1957)
• 1928 Richard Hoelscher (1867–1943) and (1884–1966)
• 1929 Carl Zuckmayer (1896–1977) and Adam Antes (1891–1984)
• 1930 (1884–1962) and (1858–1935)
• 1931 Alexander Posch (1890–1950) and (1897–1982)
• 1932 (1882–1949) and (1904–1970)
• 1933–44 not given
• 1945 Hans Schiebelhuth (1895–1944)
• 1946 Fritz Usinger (1895–1982)
• 1947 Anna Seghers (1900–1983)
• 1948 Hermann Heiss (1897–1967)
• 1949 (1895–1984)
• 1950 Elisabeth Langgässer (1899–1950)

See also

• German literature
• List of literary awards
• Sigmund Freud Prize

External links

• • 100 Jahre Georg-Büchner-Preis: Interview with Prof Dr. Christian Klein of the University of Wuppertal in 2023

Notes and References

1. Web site: Georg-Büchner-Preis . Translated from Deutsche Akademie für Sprache und Dichtung . 31 May 2012 . 30 June 2014 . https://web.archive.org/web/20140630173028/http://www.deutscheakademie.de/preise_buechner.html . dead .
2. Web site: Georg-Büchner-Preis . 2024-07-23 . www.darmstadt-stadtlexikon.de . 23 July 2024 . https://web.archive.org/web/20240723190640/https://www.darmstadt-stadtlexikon.de/g/georg-buechner-preis.html . live .
3. Web site: Georg-Büchner-Preis . Deutsche Akademie für Sprache und Dichtung . 31 May 2012 . 30 June 2014 . https://web.archive.org/web/20140630173028/http://www.deutscheakademie.de/preise_buechner.html . dead .
4. News: Leinen . Angela . 29 October 2011 . Wie man den Büchnerpreis gewinnt . . Berlin . de . 23 November 2019.
5. https://www.suhrkamp.de/rights/nachricht/oswald-egger-receives-the-georg-buechner-prize-for-2024-b-4492
6. Web site: Sibylle Lewitscharoff wins 2013 Georg Büchner prize . . 4 June 2013 . 5 June 2013 . 6 October 2014 . https://web.archive.org/web/20141006075025/http://www.dw.de/sibylle-lewitscharoff-wins-2013-georg-b%C3%BCchner-prize/a-16857230 . live .
7. Web site: Rainald Goetz: Top German literature prize goes to edgy ex-doctor . . 8 July 2015 . 9 July 2015 . 10 July 2015 . https://web.archive.org/web/20150710074215/http://www.dw.com/en/rainald-goetz-top-german-literature-prize-goes-to-edgy-ex-doctor/a-18570037 . live .
8. Web site: Top German literature prize goes to Marcel Beyer . . 28 June 2016 . 29 June 2016 . 27 July 2018 . https://web.archive.org/web/20180727085208/https://www.dw.com/en/top-german-literature-prize-goes-to-marcel-beyer/a-19361518 . live .
9. Web site: Lyriker Jan Wagner erhält Georg-Büchner-Preis . . 20 June 2017 . 20 June 2017 . 20 June 2017 . https://web.archive.org/web/20170620112530/http://www.spiegel.de/kultur/literatur/georg-buechner-preis-geht-an-lyriker-jan-wagner-a-1153059.html . live .
10. Web site: Terézia Mora bekommt Georg-Büchner-Preis . . 3 July 2018 . 3 July 2018 . 5 July 2018 . https://web.archive.org/web/20180705062527/http://www.spiegel.de/kultur/literatur/terezia-mora-bekommt-georg-buechner-preis-2018-a-1216317.html . live .
11. News: Radisch . Iris . 10 July 2019 . Traurig über seine eigenen Einsichten . . Hamburg . de . 11 July 2019 . 1 August 2019 . https://web.archive.org/web/20190801092319/https://www.zeit.de/2019/29/georg-buechner-preis-lukas-baerfuss-literaturpreis . live .
12. News: Elke Erb erhält Georg-Büchner-Preis . . Munich . 7 July 2020 . de . 7 July 2020 . 3 August 2020 . https://web.archive.org/web/20200803162436/https://www.sueddeutsche.de/kultur/buechner-preis-2020-gewonnen-1.4959325 . live .
13. News: Georg-Büchner-Preis 2021 geht an Clemens J. Setz . . 20 July 2021 . de . 20 July 2021 . 20 July 2021 . https://web.archive.org/web/20210720100333/https://www.zeit.de/kultur/literatur/2021-07/georg-buechner-preis-2021-geht-an-schriftsteller-clemens-j-setz . live .
14. Web site: Georg-Büchner-Preis 2022: Emine Sevgi Özdamar erhält renommierte Literaturauszeichnung . . 9 August 2022 . de . 9 August 2022.
15. Web site: Georg-Büchner-Preis geht an Lutz Seiler . 2024-07-20 . DER STANDARD . de-AT . 18 July 2023 . https://web.archive.org/web/20230718084902/https://www.derstandard.at/story/3000000179393/georg-buechner-preis-geht-an-lutz-seiler . live .
16. Web site: Pohl . Ronald . "Holder-die-Polder": Oswald Egger erhält den Georg-Büchner-Preis 2024 . 2024-07-19 . . de-AT . 21 July 2024 . https://web.archive.org/web/20240721141354/https://www.derstandard.at/story/3000000229097/holder-die-polder-oswald-egger-erhaelt-den-georg-buechner-preis-2024 . live .