Thomas Mann Prize (''German'': Thomas-Mann-Preis) is a literary prize of Germany. In full the title is "Thomas Mann Prize of the city of Lübeck and the Bavarian Academy of Fine Arts". It is given in alternate years in Lübeck and in Munich. The award is the product of a merger of two prizes in 2010, the Thomas Mann Preis der Hansestadt Lübeck (Thomas Mann Prize Lübeck) and the Großer Literaturpreis (Great Literature Prize) of the

Bavarian Academy of Fine Arts Bavarian is the adjective form of the German state of Bavaria, and refers to people of ancestry from Bavaria. Bavarian may also refer to: * Bavarii, a Germanic tribe * Bavarians, a nation and ethnographic group of Germans * Bavarian, Iran, a villag ...

. The Thomas Mann Prize Lübeck was first awarded in 1975; the Great Literature Prize was first awarded in 1950. The prize money is €25,000.

Recipients

Thomas-Mann-Preis 2019 an Claudio Magris - 01

* 2010:

Christa Wolf Christa Wolf (; Ihlenfeld; 18 March 1929 – 1 December 2011) was a German novelist and essayist. She is considered one of the most important writers to emerge from the former East Germany.Jan Assmann Johann Christoph "Jan" Assmann (7 July 1938 – 19 February 2024) was a German Egyptologist, cultural historian, and religion scholar. Life and works Assmann studied Egyptology and classical archaeology in Munich, Heidelberg, Paris, and Göt ...

* 2012:

Thomas Hürlimann Thomas Hürlimann (born 21 December 1950) is a Swiss playwright and novelist. Biography Hürlimann was born in Zug, Switzerland. He is a son of the former government and federal councilor (Minister) Hans Hürlimann. He studied philosophy in Züri ...

* 2013:

Juli Zeh Juli Zeh (, Julia Barbara Finck, née Zeh; born 30 June 1974) is a German writer and judge. She is known for novels such as '' The Method'' (2009), '' Unterleuten'' (2016) and '' About People'' (2021). Early life and education Juli Zeh is the da ...

* 2014:

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 ...

* 2015:

Lars Gustafsson Lars Erik Einar Gustafsson (17 May 1936 – 3 April 2016) was a Swedish poet, novelist, and scholar. Among his awards were the in 2006, the Goethe Medal in 2009, the Thomas Mann Prize in 2015, and the Nonino#Winners, International Nonino Prize i ...

* 2016:

Jenny Erpenbeck Jenny Erpenbeck (; born 12 March 1967) is a German writer and opera director. She won the 2015 ''Independent'' Foreign Fiction Prize for ''The End of Days'' and the 2024 International Booker Prize for ''Kairos''. Life Born in East Berlin, Erp ...

* 2017:

Brigitte Kronauer Brigitte Kronauer (29 December 1940 – 22 July 2019) was a German writer who lived in Hamburg. Her novels, written in the tradition of Jean Paul with artful writing and an ironic undertone, were awarded several prizes, including in 2005 the Geo ...

* 2018:

Mircea Cărtărescu Mircea Cărtărescu (; born 1 June 1956) is a Romanian novelist, poet, short-story writer, literary critic, and essayist. Biography Born in Bucharest in 1956, he attended Cantemir Vodă National College during the early 1970s. During his sc ...

* 2019:

Claudio Magris Claudio Magris (; born 10 April 1939) is an Italian scholar, translator and writer. He was a senator for Friuli-Venezia Giulia from 1994 to 1996. Life Magris graduated from the University of Turin, where he studied German studies, and has been ...

* 2020:

Nora Bossong Nora Bossong (born 9 January 1982) is a German writer. She lives in Berlin. Career Bossong studied literature at the German Institute for Literature, as well as cultural studies, philosophy and comparative literature at the Humboldt University ...

* 2021:

Norbert Gstrein Norbert Gstrein (born 1961) is an Austrian writer. He was born in Mils in Tyrol, the son of the hotelier and ski school director Norbert Gstrein (1931–1988) and Maria Gstrein, née Thurner (born 1935). He grews up with his five siblings in and ...

* 2022:

Jonathan Franzen Jonathan Earl Franzen (born August 17, 1959) is an American novelist and essayist. His 2001 novel ''The Corrections'' drew widespread critical acclaim, earned Franzen a National Book Award, was a Pulitzer Prize for Fiction finalist, earned a Jame ...

* 2023:

Ralf Rothmann Ralf Rothmann (born 10 May 1953, in Schleswig, Schleswig-Holstein) is a German novelist, poet, and dramatist. His novels have been translated into several languages, with Knife Edge (''Messers Schneide''), Young Light (''Junges Licht''), Fire Doe ...

* 2024:

Navid Kermani Navid Kermani (; ; ; born 27 November 1967) is a German writer and oriental studies, orientalist. He is the author of several novels as well as books and essays on Islam, the Middle East and Christian-Muslim dialogue. He has won numerous prizes f ...

* 2025:

Katja Lange-Müller Katja Lange-Müller (born 13 February 1951) is a German writer living in Berlin. Her works include several short stories and novellas, radio dramas, and dramatic works. The daughter of Inge Lange, an East German party functionary, Katja Lange- ...

"Thomas-Mann-Preis für Katja Lange-Müller"
wdr.de, 11 June 2025 (in German). Retrieved 11 June 2025.

References

External links

*
Thomas Mann Prize – Buddenbrookhaus
German literary awards Awards established in 2010 Awards established in 1975 Culture in Lübeck Literary awards of Munich

Prize A prize is an award to be given to a person or a group of people (such as sporting teams and organizations) to recognize and reward their actions and achievements.

{{Germany-lit-award-stub