German Non-Fiction Prize 2024

We’ve known about global warming and its dangers for decades. Yet global greenhouse gas emissions are continuing to rise. We...

We’ve known about global warming and its dangers for decades. Yet global greenhouse gas emissions are continuing to rise. We are failing to stop climate change. For Jens Beckert, the fault lies with the power and incentive structures for companies, politicians, voters and consumers. 

Its discovery in Tell el-Amarna in Egypt was a sensation, and its presentation in Berlin in 1924 caused a stir...

Its discovery in Tell el-Amarna in Egypt was a sensation, and its presentation in Berlin in 1924 caused a stir far beyond Germany. Taking us on a journey into the world of the pharaohs, Sebastian Conrad describes the dubious circumstances under which the bust of Nefertiti came to Berlin in the age of colonialism, and how its ownership has been disputed ever since. 

Ruth Hoffmann comprehensively deconstructs the myth of the “Stauffenberg assassination” and traces how 20 July 1944 has been politically instrumentalised...

Ruth Hoffmann comprehensively deconstructs the myth of the “Stauffenberg assassination” and traces how 20 July 1944 has been politically instrumentalised since the founding of the Federal Republic of Germany. She makes a contribution to our understanding of a fateful date that still reflects the difficult relationship we have with our own history to this day. 

Humans and trash have a long and intimate relationship. Based on our production and handling of waste, Roman Köster has...

Humans and trash have a long and intimate relationship. Based on our production and handling of waste, Roman Köster has written an illuminating history of our species, showing how life with waste has changed from the time humans settled down to the present day. 

Drawing on personal testimonies, Christina Morina analyses citizens’ ideas of democracy in East and West Germany since the 1980s. Identifying...

Drawing on personal testimonies, Christina Morina analyses citizens’ ideas of democracy in East and West Germany since the 1980s. Identifying differences and mutual references in their understanding of the state and politics, she reveals both the limits of West German liberalisation and the wide range of East German attempts to adopt democracy. 

Many of the currently very heated debates are an expression of a creeping shift in values. More and more, we...

Many of the currently very heated debates are an expression of a creeping shift in values. More and more, we seem willing to accept restrictions on our individual freedom in order to appease a heightened sense of vulnerability. In her study, Frauke Rostalski draws our attention to this new conflict – and pleads for an open discussion. 

Marcus Willaschek traces Kant’s revolution of thought through his work, combining this presentation with biographical and historical miniatures, so that...

Marcus Willaschek traces Kant’s revolution of thought through his work, combining this presentation with biographical and historical miniatures, so that a picture of Kant as a person and philosopher in his time also emerges. At the same time, the present-day relevance – and occasionally also the problematic nature – of his revolutionary thought also becomes clear.

The war in Palestine is propagated from generation to generation. Moshe Zimmermann names the culprits and, from this, concludes that...

The war in Palestine is propagated from generation to generation. Moshe Zimmermann names the culprits and, from this, concludes that there is a path towards a solution: turning away from the settlement policy, from the policy in Gaza to date and from Islamism and towards a two-state solution and increased support from the international community.