Georg Büchner Prize 2025: Who will be the next literary star?

Georg Büchner Prize 2025: Who will be the next literary star?

On Tuesday, July 15, 2025, literature enthusiasts in Cologne can look forward to an exciting announcement. At 9:30 a.m. the German Academy for Language and Poetry will choose the winner of the Georg Büchner Prize 2025. This prestigious award is one of the most important literary prizes in German-speaking countries and is endowed with a whopping 50,000 euros. The award ceremony itself will take place on November 1, 2025 at the State Theater in Darmstadt. This is a celebratory event that always provides highlights in the cultural calendar, and this year will probably be no exception.

The Georg Büchner Prize has a long history, dating back to 1923, when it was established as a state prize of the People's State of Hesse. However, the prize was not awarded from 1933 to 1945 and was only revived in 1946 through an agreement between the city of Darmstadt and the district president in Darmstadt. In 1951 the prize was made sustainable and converted into a literary prize. Since then, it has been awarded annually by the Academy, which honors the great playwright and revolutionary Georg Büchner. Georg Büchner, known for works such as “Woyzeck” and “Leonce and Lena,” was born in the Grand Duchy of Hesse in 1813 and died in Zurich in 1837.

A prize with tradition

With 50,000 euros, which have been available since 2002, the Georg Büchner Prize has since been financed equally by the Federal Republic of Germany, the state of Hesse and the city of Darmstadt. The prize is awarded to German-speaking authors who make a special contribution to shaping German cultural life through their works. Proposals for the award may only be submitted by members of the jury, which makes the process very selective. The jury is made up of members of the Extended Presidium of the German Academy for Language and Poetry as well as representatives of the Federal Government for Culture and Media and the Hessian Ministry of Science and Art.

The Georg Büchner Prize has produced an impressive list of award winners over the years. Among those honored are names such as Günter Grass, Heinrich Böll, Elfriede Jelinek and Rainald Goetz. Last year the award went to the literary voice Oswald Egger, born in South Tyrol in 1963, who has made an international name for himself with his poems and literary contributions. Egger's best-known works include poems that have been translated into numerous anthologies and have also received international attention. Interestingly, there have been a total of 71 award winners since 1951, including twelve women, which underlines the importance of the award and the diversity of the talent honored.

Looking into the future

For the first time, the Georg Büchner Prize 2025 will be accompanied by a newly created statute, which came into force in July 2023. This suggests that the Academy always strives to make the award ceremony transparent and contemporary. However, criticisms such as those regarding the selection of prize winners and the criteria for award worthiness continue to be discussed. Nevertheless, the Georg Büchner Prize remains a coveted symbol of recognition for authors who move and touch.

While the literary world waits for the announcement, we can only speculate which impressive voices in German-language literature will be honored this time. So stay tuned - if this is being celebrated locally in Darmstadt, there will certainly be a big celebration in Cologne too!