The Grimme-Preis (Grimme Award), formerly known as the Adolf-Grimme-Preis, is one of the most prestigious German television awards. It is named after the first general director of

Nordwestdeutscher Rundfunk Nordwestdeutscher Rundfunk (NWDR; ''Northwest German Broadcasting'') was the organization responsible for public broadcasting in the German Federal States of Hamburg, Lower Saxony, Schleswig-Holstein and North Rhine-Westphalia from 22 September ...

, Adolf Grimme. The Grimme Institute also awards the Grimme Online Award and the Deutscher Radiopreis (German Radio Award).

History

The award, founded as the Adolf-Grimme-Preis in 1964, is named after the first general director of

, Adolf Grimme.Adolf Grimme short biography
Fernsehmuseum Hamburg. Retrieved 28 January 2012 The award was endowed by the German Community College association and is granted to productions "that use the specific possibilities of the medium of television in an extraordinary manner and at the same time can serve as examples regarding content and method". It was renamed the Grimme-Preis in 2011. One of the first award winners was in 1964, for his TV movie ''Sonderurlaub'', about a failed escape from the

German Democratic Republic East Germany, officially known as the German Democratic Republic (GDR), was a country in Central Europe from Foundation of East Germany, its formation on 7 October 1949 until German reunification, its reunification with West Germany (FRG) on ...

Rainer Werner Fassbinder Rainer Werner Fassbinder (; 31 May 1945 – 10 June 1982), sometimes credited as R. W. Fassbinder, was a German filmmaker, dramatist and actor. He is widely regarded as one of the major figures and catalysts of the New German Cinema moveme ...

received an honorable mention in 1974 for his film ''

World on a Wire ''World on a Wire'' () is a 1973 West Germany, West German science fiction Serial (radio and television), television serial, starring Klaus Löwitsch and directed by Rainer Werner Fassbinder. Shot in 16 mm film, 16 mm, it was made for West German ...

''. By 2014, German veteran director

Dominik Graf Dominik Graf (born 6 September 1952) is a German film director. He studied film direction at University of Television and Film Munich, from where he graduated in 1975. While he has directed several theatrically released feature films since the 198 ...

had received ten awards for his various films. Danish director

Lars von Trier Lars von Trier (né Trier; born 30 April 1956) is a Danish film director and screenwriter. Beginning in the late-1960s as a child actor working on Danish television series ''Secret Summer'', von Trier's career has spanned more than five decad ...

was awarded a Grimme-Preis in 1996 for his miniseries '' The Kingdom''. Director Christian Petzold has been awarded the prize twice, for his films ''

Wolfsburg Wolfsburg (; Eastphalian language, Eastphalian: ''Wulfsborg'') is the fifth-largest city in the Germany, German state of Lower Saxony, on the river Aller (Germany), Aller east of Hanover and west of Berlin. Wolfsburg is famous as the locat ...

'' (2003) and '' Something to Remind Me'' (2001). In 2016,

Edward Berger Edward Berger (; born 1970) is a Swiss nationality , Swiss and Austrian nationality law, Austrian director and screenwriter. He is known for his work in Germany, where he was born and grew up, such as the German films ''Jack (2014 film), Jack'' ...

's series ''

Deutschland 83 ''Deutschland 83'' is a 2015 German spy thriller television series starring Jonas Nay as a 24-year-old native of East Germany who is sent to West Germany in 1983 as an undercover spy for the HVA, the foreign intelligence agency of the Stasi. I ...

'' was one of the four recipients in the principal "fiction" category. The TV series ''

Dark Darkness is the condition resulting from a lack of illumination, or an absence of visible light. Human vision is unable to distinguish colors in conditions of very low luminance because the hue-sensitive photoreceptor cells on the retina are ...

'' became in 2018 the first

Netflix Netflix is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service. The service primarily distributes original and acquired films and television shows from various genres, and it is available internationally in multiple lang ...

show to receive the award.

Description and significance

The award ceremony takes place annually at Theater Marl in

Marl, North Rhine-Westphalia Marl () is a town and a municipality in the Recklinghausen (district), district of Recklinghausen, in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is situated near the Wesel-Datteln Canal, approx. 10 km north-west of Recklinghausen. It has about 90, ...

, and is hosted by the Grimme-Institut. In addition to the Grimme Award, the institute also grants the Grimme Online Award and the German Radio Award ( de). The Grimme Award has been referred to in ''Kino'' magazine as the "German TV Oscar".

Notable laureates

In literature

In ''

Look Who's Back ''Look Who's Back'' (, ; ) is a German satirical novel about Adolf Hitler by Timur Vermes, published in 2012 by . The novel was adapted into a German Look Who's Back (film), film of the same name, which was released in 2015. Plot In 2011, Ado ...

'' by

Timur Vermes Timur Vermes (born 1967) is a German writer. Previously a ghostwriter, his first novel ''Er ist wieder da'', which has sold over a million copies in Germany, is a satire about Adolf Hitler and 21st-century Germany. The English version, ''Look Wh ...

, a novel in which Hitler awakens in the 21st century and becomes a comedian, the Grimme Prize is awarded to Hitler.

References

External links

Official website
{{Authority control German television awards