German literature
German literature () comprises those literature, literary texts written in the German language. This includes literature written in Germany, Austria, the German parts of Switzerland and Belgium, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, South Tyrol in Italy ...
prize. The prize was first awarded in 1912, on the occasion of the hundredth anniversary of the death of Heinrich von Kleist. The Kleist Prize was the most important
literary award
A literary award or literary prize is an award presented in recognition of a particularly lauded Literature, literary piece or body of work. It is normally presented to an author. Organizations
Most literary awards come with a corresponding award c ...
of the
Weimar Republic
The Weimar Republic, officially known as the German Reich, was the German Reich, German state from 1918 to 1933, during which it was a constitutional republic for the first time in history; hence it is also referred to, and unofficially proclai ...
, but was discontinued in 1933.
In 1985 the prize was awarded for the first time in over fifty years. Between 1994 and 2000 it was awarded biennially. A monetary sum of €20,000 accompanies the award.
Winners
Listings of the Kleist Prize winners are maintained by the Kleist-Archiv Sembdner. and Kleist Gesellschaft
Robert Michel
Robert Henry Michel (; March 2, 1923 – February 17, 2017) was an American Republican Party (United States), Republican Party politician who was a member of the United States House of Representatives for 38 years. He represented central Ill ...
Bertolt Brecht
Eugen Berthold Friedrich Brecht (10 February 1898 – 14 August 1956), known as Bertolt Brecht and Bert Brecht, was a German theatre practitioner, playwright, and poet. Coming of age during the Weimar Republic, he had his first successes as a p ...
Robert Musil
Robert Musil (; 6 November 1880 – 15 April 1942) was an Austrian philosophical writer. His unfinished novel, ''The Man Without Qualities'' (), is generally considered to be one of the most important and influential modernist novels.
Family
M ...
*1924
Ernst Barlach
Ernst Heinrich Barlach (2 January 1870 – 24 October 1938) was a German Expressionism, expressionist sculptor, medallist, printmaker and writer. Although he was a supporter of the war in the years leading to World War I, his participation in th ...
*1925
Carl Zuckmayer
Carl Zuckmayer (27 December 1896 – 18 January 1977) was a German writer and playwright. His older brother was the pedagogue, composer, conductor, and pianist Eduard Zuckmayer.
His first two dramas were failures. In 1929, he wrote the script ...
*1926
Alexander Lernet-Holenia
Alexander Lernet-Holenia (21 October 1897 – 3 July 1976) was an Austrian poet, novelist, playwright and writer of screenplays and historical studies who produced a heterogeneous literary opus that included poetry, psychological novels descri ...
Alexander Kluge
Alexander Kluge (born 14 February 1932) is a German author, philosopher, academic and film director.(editor)
Early life, education and early career
Kluge was born in Halberstadt, Province of Saxony (now Saxony-Anhalt), Germany.
After growing ...
for ''Die Macht der Gefühle''
*1986 Diana Kempff for ''Der Wanderer''
*1987 Thomas Brasch for ''Robert, ich, Fastnacht und die anderen''
*1988 Ulrich Horstmann
*1989 for ''Der amerikanische Traum''
*1990
Heiner Müller
Heiner Müller (; 9 January 1929 – 30 December 1995) was a German (formerly East German) dramatist, poet, writer, essayist and theatre director. His "enigmatic, fragmentary pieces" are a significant contribution to postmodern drama and postd ...
for ''Hamletmaschine''
*1991 Gaston Salvatore for ''Lektionen der Finsternis''
*1992 Monika Maron for ''Stille Zeile Sechs''
*1993 Ernst Jandl for life works
*1994
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 ...
for '' Herztier''
*1996 for ''Der Kuckuck und die Nachtigall''
*1998 for ''Wie es weitergeht'' & ''Zeitlösung''
*2000 Barbara Honigmann for ''Alles, alles Liebe!''
*2001 Judith Hermann for ''Sommerhaus, später''
*2002 Martin Mosebach for ''Eine lange Nacht'', ''Der Nebenfürst'' & ''Das Grab der Pulcinellen''
*2003 for ''Vatersprache''
*2004 Emine Sevgi Özdamar for ''Seltsame Sterne starren zur Erde. Wedding – Pankow 1976/77''
*2005 Gert Jonke for ''Seltsame Sache'' & ''Die versunkene Kathedrale''
*2006
Christoph Ransmayr
Christoph Ransmayr (; born 20 March 1954) is an Austrian writer.
Life
Born in Wels, Upper Austria, Ransmayr grew up in Roitham near Gmunden and the Traunsee. From 1972 to 1978 he studied philosophy and ethnology in Vienna. He worked there as ...
German literature
German literature () comprises those literature, literary texts written in the German language. This includes literature written in Germany, Austria, the German parts of Switzerland and Belgium, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, South Tyrol in Italy ...