The Einhard Prize (German: ''Einhard-Preis'') is a literary prize for historical biography. It is awarded by the Einhard-Stiftung, a foundation headquartered in

Seligenstadt Seligenstadt is a town in the Offenbach district in the ''Regierungsbezirk'' of Darmstadt in Hesse, Germany. Seligenstadt is one of Germany's oldest towns and was already of great importance in Carolingian times. Geography Location Seligenstadt ...

Hesse Hesse or Hessen ( ), officially the State of Hesse (), is a States of Germany, state in Germany. Its capital city is Wiesbaden, and the largest urban area is Frankfurt, which is also the country's principal financial centre. Two other major hist ...

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

, a town founded by

Einhard Einhard (also Eginhard or Einhart; ; 775 – 14 March 840) was a Franks, Frankish scholar and courtier. Einhard was a dedicated servant of Charlemagne and his son Louis the Pious; his main work is a biography of Charlemagne, the ''Vita Karoli M ...

, famous as a biographer of

Charlemagne Charlemagne ( ; 2 April 748 – 28 January 814) was List of Frankish kings, King of the Franks from 768, List of kings of the Lombards, King of the Lombards from 774, and Holy Roman Emperor, Emperor of what is now known as the Carolingian ...

. The prize is endowed with €10,000.

Recipients

* 1999:

Otto Pflanze Otto Paul Pflanze (April 1, 1918 – March 3, 2007) was an American historian. He was one of the leading historians of 19th century German history. He is perhaps best known for his three-volume biography of the German statesman Otto von Bismarck. ...

, works about

Otto von Bismarck Otto, Prince of Bismarck, Count of Bismarck-Schönhausen, Duke of Lauenburg (; born ''Otto Eduard Leopold von Bismarck''; 1 April 1815 – 30 July 1898) was a German statesman and diplomat who oversaw the unification of Germany and served as ...

* 2001:

Brian Boyd Brian David Boyd (born 30 July 1952) is a professor of literature known primarily as an expert on the life and works of author Vladimir Nabokov and on literature and evolution. He is a University Distinguished Professor in the Department of ...

, biography of

Vladimir Nabokov Vladimir Vladimirovich Nabokov ( ; 2 July 1977), also known by the pen name Vladimir Sirin (), was a Russian and American novelist, poet, translator, and entomologist. Born in Imperial Russia in 1899, Nabokov wrote his first nine novels in Rus ...

* 2003:

Joachim C. Fest Joachim Clemens Fest (8 December 1926 – 11 September 2006) was a German historian, journalist, critic and editor who was best known for his writings and public commentary on Nazi Germany, including a biography of Adolf Hitler and books about A ...

, works about

Albert Speer Berthold Konrad Hermann Albert Speer (; ; 19 March 1905 – 1 September 1981) was a German architect who served as Reich Ministry of Armaments and War Production, Minister of Armaments and War Production in Nazi Germany during most of W ...

* 2005: Irène Heidelberger-Leonard, ''Revolte in der Resignation'', a biography of

Jean Améry Jean Améry (31 October 191217 October 1978), born Hans Chaim Maier, was an Austrian-born essayist whose work was often informed by his experiences during World War II. His most celebrated work, ''At the Mind's Limits: Contemplations by a Surviv ...

* 2007: Eberhard Weis, biography of

Maximilian von Montgelas Maximilian Karl Joseph Franz de Paula Hieronymus de Garnerin de la Thuile, Count von Montgelas (; 12 September 1759 – 14 June 1838) was a Bavarian statesman, a member of a noble family from the Duchy of Savoy. His father John Sigmund Gar ...

* 2009: Margot Friedländer, autobiography ''Versuche, Dein Leben zu machen'' * 2011: Hugh Barr Nisbet, biography of

Gotthold Ephraim Lessing Gotthold Ephraim Lessing (; ; 22 January 1729 – 15 February 1781) was a German philosopher, dramatist, publicist and art critic, and a representative of the Enlightenment era. His plays and theoretical writings substantially influenced the dev ...

* 2013:

John C. G. Röhl John Charles Gerald Röhl (31 May 1938 – 17 November 2023) was a British historian notable for his work on Imperial Germany and European history. Early life John Charles Gerald Röhl was born in the German Hospital in Dalston, east London, ...

, biography of

Wilhelm II, German Emperor Wilhelm II (Friedrich Wilhelm Viktor Albert; 27 January 18594 June 1941) was the last German Emperor and King of Prussia from 1888 until his abdication in 1918, which marked the end of the German Empire as well as the Hohenzollern dynasty ...

* 2015:

Joachim Radkau Joachim Radkau (born October 4, 1943) is a German historian. Life Radkau was born in Oberlübbe, now Hille, Landkreis Minden. Son of a Protestant priest, he studied history in Münster, Berlin (Freie Universität) and Hamburg from 1963 to ...

, biography of

Theodor Heuss Theodor Heuss (; 31 January 1884 – 12 December 1963) was a German liberal politician who served as the first president of West Germany from 1949 to 1959. His civil demeanour and his cordial nature – something of a contrast to German nati ...

* 2017:

Albrecht Schöne Albrecht Schöne (17 July 1925 – 21 May 2025) was a German German studies, Germanist. From 1960 to 1990 he was a professor of German studies, German philology at the University of Göttingen. Life and career Schöne was born on 17 July 1925 in ...

, ''Der Briefschreiber Goethe'' * 2019: Emmanuelle Loyer, biography of

Claude Lévi-Strauss Claude Lévi-Strauss ( ; ; 28 November 1908 – 30 October 2009) was a Belgian-born French anthropologist and ethnologist whose work was key in the development of the theories of structuralism and structural anthropology. He held the chair o ...

* 2022:

Jacques Tardi Jacques Tardi (; born 30 August 1946) is a French comic artist. He is often credited solely as Tardi. Biography Tardi was born on 30 August 1946 in Valence, Drôme. After graduating from the École nationale des beaux-arts de Lyon and the Écol ...

, graphic novel biography of his father, World War II veteran René Tardi * 2025:

Ulinka Rublack Ulinka Rublack (born 1967) is a German historian. She received her PhD from the University of Cambridge, and is a professor in Early Modern European History and a Fellow of St John's College, Cambridge. Rublack is the founder of the Cambridge Hi ...

, biography of

Albrecht Dürer Albrecht Dürer ( , ;; 21 May 1471 – 6 April 1528),Müller, Peter O. (1993) ''Substantiv-Derivation in Den Schriften Albrecht Dürers'', Walter de Gruyter. . sometimes spelled in English as Durer or Duerer, was a German painter, Old master prin ...

References

External links

* Literary awards of Hesse {{Germany-lit-award-stub