The Franz Werfel Human Rights Award () is a human rights award of the German Federation of Expellees' Centre Against Expulsions project. It is awarded to individuals or groups in Europe who, through political, artistic, philosophical or practical work, have opposed breaches of human rights by

genocide Genocide is violence that targets individuals because of their membership of a group and aims at the destruction of a people. Raphael Lemkin, who first coined the term, defined genocide as "the destruction of a nation or of an ethnic group" by ...

ethnic cleansing Ethnic cleansing is the systematic forced removal of ethnic, racial, or religious groups from a given area, with the intent of making the society ethnically homogeneous. Along with direct removal such as deportation or population transfer, it ...

, and the deliberate destruction of national, ethnic, racial or religious groups.

The prize

The foundations of the prize are considered to be the Fourth Hague Convention of 1907, the

Universal Declaration of Human Rights The Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) is an international document adopted by the United Nations General Assembly that enshrines the Human rights, rights and freedoms of all human beings. Drafted by a UN Drafting of the Universal D ...

of 1948, the International Agreement on Civilian and Political Rights of 1966, the resolution of the

United Nations Commission on Human Rights The United Nations Commission on Human Rights (UNCHR) was a functional commission within the United Nations System, overall framework of the United Nations from 1946 until it was replaced by the United Nations Human Rights Council in 2006. It was a ...

of 1998 as well as the consequences of the meeting of the

European Council The European Council (informally EUCO) is a collegiate body (directorial system) and a symbolic collective head of state, that defines the overall political direction and general priorities of the European Union (EU). It is composed of the he ...

of the Heads of State and Governments in

Copenhagen Copenhagen ( ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a population of 1.4 million in the Urban area of Copenhagen, urban area. The city is situated on the islands of Zealand and Amager, separated from Malmö, Sweden, by the ...

of 1993 and other statements issued by the

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational union, supranational political union, political and economic union of Member state of the European Union, member states that are Geography of the European Union, located primarily in Europe. The u ...

. The award is named after the famous Austrian author Franz Werfel (1890–1945), whose novel '' The Forty Days of Musa Dagh'' famously portrayed the displacement of the

Armenians Armenians (, ) are an ethnic group indigenous to the Armenian highlands of West Asia.Robert Hewsen, Hewsen, Robert H. "The Geography of Armenia" in ''The Armenian People From Ancient to Modern Times Volume I: The Dynastic Periods: From Antiq ...

from

Turkey Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...

and the

of the Armenians in 1915/16. The award includes €10,000 of prize money, and is awarded in the Paulskirche in

Frankfurt Frankfurt am Main () is the most populous city in the States of Germany, German state of Hesse. Its 773,068 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the List of cities in Germany by population, fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located in the forela ...

every second year. It was first awarded in 2003.

Jury

2010

* Otto von Habsburg ( CSU), former member of the European Parliament, Chairman of the International Paneuropean Union, former crown prince of

Austria-Hungary Austria-Hungary, also referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the Dual Monarchy or the Habsburg Monarchy, was a multi-national constitutional monarchy in Central Europe#Before World War I, Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. A military ...

(deceased) * Klaus Hänsch (SPD), former

president of the European Parliament The president of the European Parliament presides over the debates and activities of the European Parliament. They also represent the Parliament within the European Union (EU) and internationally. The president's signature is required for Euro ...

*, a journalist, former Poland correspondent of

Die Zeit (, ) is a German national weekly newspaper published in Hamburg in Germany. The newspaper is generally considered to be among the German newspapers of record and is known for its long and extensive articles. History The first edition of was ...

and Die Welt * Milan Horáček, a founding member of the German Green Party, former MEP * Hilmar Kopper, former chairman of

Deutsche Bank Deutsche Bank AG (, ) is a Germany, German multinational Investment banking, investment bank and financial services company headquartered in Frankfurt, Germany, and dual-listed on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange and the New York Stock Exchange. ...

Rüdiger Safranski Rüdiger Safranski (born 1 January 1945) is a German philosopher and author. Life From 1965 to 1972, Safranski studied philosophy (among others, with Theodor W. Adorno), German literature, history and history of art at Goethe University ...

, philosopher and author * Erika Steinbach ( CDU), a member of the German Parliament and chairwoman of the Federation of Expellees

Former jury members

* Peter Glotz ( SPD), a professor, former senator, MP and Secretary General of the SPD (2003–2005, deceased) * Daniel Cohn-Bendit ( Greens), chairman of the Green faction in the European Parliament * György Konrád, a writer and former president of the Akademie der Künste in Berlin (2003–2007, deceased) * Ralph Giordano, a writer (deceased) * Lennart Meri, a writer and former

president of Estonia The president of the Republic of Estonia () is the head of state of the Estonia, Republic of Estonia. The current president is Alar Karis, elected by Parliament on 31 August 2021, replacing Kersti Kaljulaid. Estonia is one of the few parliam ...

(2003–2006, deceased) * Otto Graf Lambsdorff, former chairman of the Liberal Party and member of the German federal cabinet (2003–2009, deceased)

Laureates

* 2003 ** (Germany), "for his scientific work in the field of genocide research, on the history of the persecution of Armenians and its current implications" ** The initiators of the "Cross of Reconciliation" (''Kříž smíření'' in Czech) in Teplice nad Metují, the

Czech Republic The Czech Republic, also known as Czechia, and historically known as Bohemia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. The country is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the south ...

(Wekelsdorf), for "inaugurating the cross for the

Sudeten Germans German Bohemians ( ; ), later known as Sudeten Germans ( ; ), were ethnic Germans living in the Czech lands of the Bohemian Crown, which later became an integral part of Czechoslovakia. Before 1945, over three million German Bohemians constitute ...

murdered on the Buková hora (Buchenberg) in 1945 and for all the victims of national conflicts from this region and for making a courageous gesture of dialogue between Germans and Czechs". *** Věra Vítová, the mayor of Teplice nad Metují *** Petr Kulíšek, a political activist *** Jan Piňos, a political activist * 2005 Franjo Komarica, bishop (

Bosnia and Herzegovina Bosnia and Herzegovina, sometimes known as Bosnia-Herzegovina and informally as Bosnia, is a country in Southeast Europe. Situated on the Balkans, Balkan Peninsula, it borders Serbia to the east, Montenegro to the southeast, and Croatia to th ...

) * 2007 György Konrád * 2009

Herta Müller Herta Müller (; born 17 August 1953) is a Romanian-German novelist, poet, essayist and recipient of the 2009 Nobel Prize in Literature. She was born in Nițchidorf (; ), Timiș County in Romania; her native languages are German and Romanian. Si ...

in particular for her novel '' Everything I Possess I Carry With Me'' * 2010 * 2012 Karl Schlögel * 2014 , film director * 2016 Freya Klier * 2018 Michael Wolffsohn * 2021

Joachim Gauck Joachim Wilhelm Gauck (; born 24 January 1940) is a German politician who served as President of Germany from 2012 to 2017. A former Lutheran pastor, he came to prominence as an anti-communist civil rights activist in East Germany. During the P ...

* 2023 Klaus Iohannis

References

External links

* Zentrum gegen Vertreibungen {{in lang, de Peace awards European human rights awards