The Goethe Medal, also known as the Goethe-Medaille, is a yearly prize given by the Goethe-Institut honoring non-Germans "who have performed outstanding service for the German language and for international cultural relations". It is an official decoration of the Federal Republic of Germany. The prize used to be given on 22 March, the anniversary of Goethe's death. Since 2009, it has been given on 28 August, the anniversary of Goethe's birth. The first awards were made in 1955. In the intervening years, through 2018, a total of 348 women and men from 65 countries have been so honored. It is not to be confused with Goethe-Medaille für Kunst und Wissenschaft (1932–1944), Goethe Prize and Goetheplakette der Stadt Frankfurt am Main.
Recent recipients Source:
2026
Arvo Pärt, composer, Estonia Anita Raja, translator, Italy Prodromos Tsinikoris, theatre director, dramaturge and actor, Greece
2025 Osman Kavala, cultural promoter, TurkeyGoethe-Medaille für türkischen Kulturförderer Osman Kavala. wdr.de, 6 May 2025 (in German). Retrieved 6 May 2025. Li Yuan, German studies scholar, China David Van Reybrouck, cultural historian, archaeologist and author, Belgium
2024 Claudia Cabrera, literary translator and interpreter, Mexico Iskra Geshoska, art historian and cultural manager, North Macedonia Carmen Romero Quero, founder and director of the theatre festival Teatro a Mil, Chile
2023 Gaga Chkheidze, film manager, Georgia Yi-Wei Keng, curator, dramaturg, and translator, Taiwan OFF-Biennale Budapest, Hungary
2022 Mohamed Abla, multimedia artist, Egypt Tali Nates, historian and director of the Johannesburg Holocaust & Genocide Centre, South Africa Nimi Ravindran und Shiva Pathak from Sandbox Collective, artists and arts administrators, India
2021 Marilyn Douala Bell, Socio-economist Toshio Hosokawa, Composer Wen Hui, Choreographer
2020
Zukiswa Wanner, Writer, publisher and curator Ian McEwan, Author Elvira Espejo Ayca, Artist and museum director
2019 Enkhbat Roozon, Publisher, bookseller and political journalist Shirin Neshat, Artist and filmmaker Doğan Akhanlı, freelance author of novels and essays in Turkish, and a play in German
2018 Heidi Abderhalden and Rolf Abderhalden (Mapa Teatro), Colombian theater maker Claudia Andujar, Brazilian photographer and activist Péter Eötvös, Hungarian composer and conductor
2017 Urvashi Butalia, Indian feminist and historian Emily Nasrallah, Lebanese writer Irina Shcherbakova, Russian historian and journalist
2016 Akinbode Akinbiyi, British-Nigerian photographer Yurii Andrukhovych, Ukrainian writer and translator David Lordkipanidze, Georgian anthropologist and archaeologist
2015 Sadiq Jalal al-Azm, Syrian philosopher and writer Neil MacGregor, British art historian and former museum director Eva Sopher, German-Brazilian cultural entrepreneur
2014 Krystyna Meissner, Polish director Robert Wilson, American director and playwright Gerard Mortier, (posthumously) Belgian opera director
2013 S. Mahmoud Hosseini Zad, Persian translator of German literature. Naveen Kishore, publisher of Seagull Books. Petros Markaris, Greek novelist.
2012 Irena Veisaitė Bolat Atabayev Dževad Karahasan, Bosnian writer
2011 John le Carré Adam Michnik Ariane Mnouchkine
2010 Ágnes Heller, Hungarian philosopher Fuad Rifka John Spalek
2009 Lars Gustafsson Victor Scoradet Sverre Dahl
2008 Gholam Dastgir Behbud Bernard Sobel John E. Woods
2007 Daniel Barenboim Dezső Tandori Kim Min-ki
2006 Vera San Payo de Lemos Giwi Margwelaschwili Said
2005 Samuel Assefa Ruth Klüger Dmytro Zatonsky Yoko Tawada Simone Young
2004 Mohan Agashe Kevin Willie Imre Kertész Paul Michael Lützeler Anatoli A. Michailow Sergio Paulo Rouanet
2003 Lenka Reinerová Jorge Semprún
2002 Werner Michael Blumenthal Georges-Arthur Goldschmidt Francisek Grucza Touradj Rahnema Antonio Skármeta
2001 Adonis Sofia Gubaidulina Gerardo Marotta Werner Spies
2000 Nicholas Boyle György Konrád Daniel Libeskind Sara Sayin George Tabori Abdel-Ghaffar Mikkawy
Other notable recipients 20th century recipients are:
1957: Hans Trümpelmann 1960: Hermann Boeschenstein 1961: 1963: 1967: Peter Jørgensen 1968: Gertrud Seidmann 1969: 1970: Pierre Bertaux 1973: Chetana Nagavajara 1976: Pierre-Paul Sagave, Elichi Kikuchi, Waichi Sakurai, John Asher, Ingerid Dal 1982: Ekrem Akurgal, Werner Kraft 1983: Bruno Bettelheim 1985: Alokeranjan Dasgupta, Johannes Edfelt 1987: Gordon A. Craig, Pierre Boulez, Pavica Mrazović 1988: George Mosse, Pierre Bourdieu, Giorgio Strehler 1989: Ernst Gombrich 1990: György Ligeti, Thomas Messer, , Eda Sagarra, Hilde Spiel 1991: Leslie Bodi, Jan Hoet, Panagiotis Kondylis, Eduardo Paolozzi, Hans Sahl 1992: Elisabeth Augustin, Karl Raimund Popper, 1993: Michel Tournier 1994: István Szabó, Billy Wilder 1995: Isang Yun, Hermann von der Dunk 1996: Jan Křen 1997: Nam June Paik, Rolf Liebermann 1998: Ralf Dahrendorf 1999: Dani Karavan, Leoluca Orlando, Jiří Gruša
Controversy South African novelist Zukiswa Wanner and Egyptian artist Mohamed Abla returned their Goethe Medals in protest of Germany's support of Israel during Israel's bombing campaign in the Gaza Strip.
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