Georg Büchner Prize facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Georg Büchner Prize
Portrait of Georg Büchner, pencil drawing by the Darmstadt theater painter Philipp August Joseph Hoffmann
Presented by	Deutsche Akademie für Sprache und Dichtung
Location	Darmstadt
Country	Germany
Reward	€50,000
First awarded	1923

The Georg Büchner Prize (German: Georg-Büchner-Preis) is the most important literary prize for German language literature. This special award is named after a famous German writer and playwright named Georg Büchner. He wrote well-known plays like Woyzeck and Leonce and Lena. The Georg Büchner Prize is given out every year to authors who write in German. It honors those whose work has made a big and important contribution to German culture today.

History of the Georg Büchner Prize

The Georg Büchner Prize was first created in 1923. It was started to remember Georg Büchner. In the beginning, the prize was only given to artists who were from or had strong connections to Büchner's home region, Hesse. The first awards were given out in 1923. Back then, the winners were often visual artists, poets, actors, and singers.

How the Prize Changed Over Time

In 1951, the prize changed its focus. It became a general literary prize, meaning it was given specifically for writing. Since then, the Deutsche Akademie für Sprache und Dichtung (German Academy for Language and Literature) has awarded it every year. The prize goes to authors who write in the German language. The winner usually gives a speech in Darmstadt, Germany. Since 2002, the prize has included a money award of €50,000.

Georg Büchner Prize and the Nobel Prize in Literature

The Georg Büchner Prize is often seen as a good sign for writers who might later win the Nobel Prize in Literature. Several authors have won both awards. For example, Günter Grass (who won the Büchner Prize in 1965), Heinrich Böll (1967), Elias Canetti (1972), Peter Handke (1973), and Elfriede Jelinek (1998) all later received the Nobel Prize in Literature. This shows how important the Georg Büchner Prize is in the world of German literature.

See also

In Spanish: Premio Georg Büchner para niños

• German literature
• List of literary awards
• Sigmund Freud Prize

Images for kids

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  Laureate of the year 1989: Botho Strauß

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  Laureate of the year 2020: Elke Erb