Lessing Prize of the Free State of Saxony

German literary award

The Lessing Prize of the Free State of Saxony is a German literary award. It was founded in 1993 by the Government of the Free State of Saxony and is awarded every two years. It consists of a main prize, which honours outstanding achievements in the spirit of Gotthold Ephraim Lessing, especially in the field of literature, literary criticism and the theater. This prize is worth 20,000 euros.^[1] In addition, two further "promotional prizes" are awarded, which seek to publicly recognize and promote promising beginnings in these fields. These prizes are each worth 5,500 euros.^[2]

The award ceremony usually takes place on 21 January, the eve of Lessing's birthday (22 January 1729), as part of the celebrations organized by the Lessing Museum in his native town of Kamenz. The award builds on the tradition of the Lessing Prize of the GDR, which was awarded from 1955 to 1989 by the Ministry of Culture of the GDR.^[3]^[4]

Winners

1993: Hans Sahl; Förderpreise: Lutz Graf
1995: Rolf Hoppe; Förderpreise: Angela Krauss
1997: Wolfgang Hilbig; Förderpreise: Kerstin Hensel and Ulrich Zieger
1999: Eduard Goldstücker; Förderpreise: Marion Titze and Marcel Beyer
2001: Adolf Dresen; Förderpreise: Barbara Köhler and Oliver Bukowski
2003: Hans Joachim Schädlich; Förderpreise: Anke Stelling together with Robby Dannenberg and Christian Lehnert
2005: Armin Petras; Förderpreise: Martina Hefter and Jörg Bernig
2007: Ruth Klüger; Förderpreise: Volker Sielaff and Clemens Meyer
2009: Kito Lorenc; Förderpreise: Ulrike Almut Sandig and Dirk Laucke
2011: Monika Maron; Förderpreise: Renatus Deckert and Andreas Heidtmann
2013: Volker Lösch; Förderpreise: Franziska Gerstenberg and Judith Schalansky
2015: Carolin Emcke; Förderpreise: Julius Fischer and Wolfram Höll
2017: Kurt Drawert; Förderpreise: Thomas Freyer and Anna Kaleri^[5]
2019: Marcel Beyer; Förderpreise: Anja Kampmann and Bettina Wilpert^[6]^[7]
2021: Wilfried Schulz [de]; Förderpreise: Jackie Thomae, Anna Mateur and Jasna Zajček^[1]
2023: Andreas Reimann [de]; Förderpreise: Sarah Lesch and Heike Geißler^[8]

Related awards

Lessing Prize of the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg [de]
Lessing Prize of the GDR [de]
Lessing Prize for Criticism [de]
Lessing Ring [de] for the Cultural Award of the German Freemasons

References

^ ^a ^b "Der Intendant Wilfried Schulz ist Lessing-Preisträger 2021 des Freistaates Sachsen – Nachrichten aus Leipzig". Nachrichten aus Leipzig – Leipziger Zeitung (in German). 30 September 2021. Retrieved 4 December 2021.
^ "Lessing-Preis des Freistaates Sachsen/Förderpreis – Preise & Stipendien". Home (in German). Retrieved 18 July 2021.
^ "Lessing-Preis". Literaturpreis Gewinner (in German). 4 February 2019. Retrieved 18 July 2021.
^ "Kulturpreise.de : Lessing-Preis des Freistaates Sachsen". Handbuch der Kulturpreise – Handbook of Cultural Awards (in German). Retrieved 18 July 2021.
^ "Freistaat Sachsen würdigt mit dem Lessing-Preis 2017 einen der Großen aus der Sächsischen Dichterschule – Nachrichten aus Leipzig". Nachrichten aus Leipzig – Leipziger Zeitung (in German). 11 October 2016. Retrieved 18 July 2021.
^ "Marcel Beyer erhält Lessing-Preis des Freistaates Sachsen 2019". Medienservice Sachsen (in German). 5 September 2019. Retrieved 18 July 2021.
^ "Kretschmer verleiht Lessingpreis". Sächsische.de (in German). 7 January 2019. Retrieved 18 July 2021.
^ "Der Lyriker Andreas Reimann erhält Lessing-Preis 2023 des Freistaates Sachsen". Medienservice Sachsen (in German). 5 September 2019. Retrieved 19 December 2023.