German Non-Fiction Prize 2026

In her Moscow memoirs, Irina Shcherbakova reflects on the brief years of awakening and freedom during Perestroika. It was during...

In her Moscow memoirs, Irina Shcherbakova reflects on the brief years of awakening and freedom during Perestroika. It was during this period that she co–founded Memorial, the human rights organisation dedicated to coming to terms with the legacy of Stalinism. She provides a harrowing account of Russia’s seemingly unstoppable slide into dictatorship. In 2022, Shcherbakova was able to leave for Israel just in time. But giving up is not an option – following its liquidation, Memorial is being re–established in Berlin.

Three hundred German men determine the economic fate of the continent. Walther Rathenau wrote this sentence at the beginning of...

Three hundred German men determine the economic fate of the continent. Walther Rathenau wrote this sentence at the beginning of the 20th century in reference to the intricately interwoven network of bankers, captains of industry, and lobbyists that had formed through the rise of companies like Allianz, Krupp, and Siemens. All these men knew one another, spoke regularly – and wheeled and dealed with one another. Right up into the 1990s, this network, known as “Deutschland AG”, which roughly translates to “Germany Inc.”, decisively shaped both political decision-making and the business culture in West Germany and the newly reunified Federal Republic.

Returning to a foreign home: When ethnologist Heike Behrend visited her grandfather’s house after the fall of the Berlin Wall,...

Returning to a foreign home: When ethnologist Heike Behrend visited her grandfather’s house after the fall of the Berlin Wall, she encountered the Christian prophet Gustaf Nagel at Arendsee in the Altmark region. Nagel was born in 1874 during the German Empire and died in 1952 in a mental asylum in the GDR. As part of the Lebensreform movement, the German nationalist prophet was subjected to various forms of persecution throughout his life. 

Heike Behrend reconstructs Gustaf Nagel’s biography on the basis of his self-portraits on postcards and his texts, which local historians had already collected and archived during the GDR era, as well as in conversations with them and the deceased. She also recounts conflicts, cooperation and friendship in a present in which disappointment and dissatisfaction with reunification are also finding expression in new forms of self-assertion among the inhabitants of the Altmark. In dialogue with them, she learns not only to recognise her own questions, but also what it means to generate ethnographic and historical knowledge together and in solidarity.

How we deal with the possibilities offered by modern medicine is a matter that concerns us all. The doctor and...

How we deal with the possibilities offered by modern medicine is a matter that concerns us all. The doctor and philosopher Bettina Schöne-Seifert examines twelve current controversial topics – including assisted suicide, advance directives for dementia, organ donation, surrogacy and AI in medicine. Each topic is introduced with a short fictional story, followed by factual background information, before the actual controversies are explored. What are the contentious issues? What are the arguments? Which are convincing?

The volume concludes with fundamental reflections on self-determination, paternalism and the common good in medicine. Strong opinions and proposed conclusions from the author, who served as a member of the German Ethics Council, invite readers to reflect and weigh up the issues. Bettina Schöne-Seifert presents medical ethics as both a subject for reflection and a challenge.

Never before in the Federal Republic of Germany have there been so many – and such strict – laws regulating...

Never before in the Federal Republic of Germany have there been so many – and such strict – laws regulating and restricting freedom of expression as there are today. Over the past decade, numerous new provisions have been introduced to ban certain statements. The state now classifies many statements as criminal offences that, just a decade ago, clearly fell within the scope of freedom of expression. 

Ronen Steinke highlights where the boundaries of freedom of expression now lie, including in the digital sphere. Especially in the current volatile climate, the doctor of law argues, the country should dare to allow more freedom of expression, rather than assuming people can be persuaded by silencing them. This is a passionate appeal from the bestselling author: to allow more freedom of expression, to tolerate debate and to be more courageous.

Every technology has the power to impose its own logic on its unaware users. Are ChatGPT, Claude, Zwilling, Pi or...

Every technology has the power to impose its own logic on its unaware users. Are ChatGPT, Claude, Zwilling, Pi or Gemini weaning us of reading, writing and thinking? Are they persuading us to adopt views we don’t even hold? Are they disempowering us by being so eager to serve us? And are they perhaps dangerous precisely because they seem to give us everything we want? Simanowski explores these and other questions with a philosophical sense of how new technology will change the human condition.

The future seems more frightening than it did just a few years ago. What it will look like doesn’t depend...

The future seems more frightening than it did just a few years ago. What it will look like doesn’t depend solely on Russia and the US, but on a large number of players. By taking stock of what we actually know, what we don’t know, and above all, what options for action are available, we retrieve the feeling that we too have a role to play in our future. 

Florence Gaub invites readers to make their own foreign policy decisions: Instead of merely being spectators of more or less plausible scenarios, readers can follow different decision-making paths. The book provides insights into possible decision-making processes and imparts a sense of self-determination.

Icon of 20th-century literature, Noble prize-winner, celebrated genius – and about as unhappy as it’s possible to be. Thomas Mann...

Icon of 20th-century literature, Noble prize-winner, celebrated genius – and about as unhappy as it’s possible to be. Thomas Mann loves and yet he cannot love, blocked as he is by the conventions of the age. What a source of inspiration for some of the greatest works of literature – and what a thoroughly miserable life. 

His early global success with “Buddenbrooks” opens up door after door – all the way to the White House. No German voice denounces Hitler as vocally as his, no other writer garners as many accolades as he does. His wife Katia and his six children huddle around him like a cocoon. And yet, he is only ever one wrong-footed step away from tumbling into the abyss.