The Lessing Prize of the Free State of Saxony is a German literary award. It was founded in 1993 by the Government of the Free State of Saxony and is awarded every two years. It consists of a main prize, which honours outstanding achievements in the spirit of Gotthold Ephraim Lessing, especially in the field of literature, literary criticism and the theater. This prize is worth 20,000 euros. In addition, two further "promotional prizes" are awarded, which seek to publicly recognize and promote promising beginnings in these fields. These prizes are each worth 5,500 euros.
The award ceremony usually takes place on 21 January, the eve of Lessing's birthday (22 January 1729), as part of the celebrations organized by the Lessing Museum in his native town of Kamenz. The award builds on the tradition of the Lessing Prize of the GDR, which was awarded from 1955 to 1989 by the Ministry of Culture of the GDR.
Winners 1993: Hans Sahl; Förderpreise: Lutz Graf 1995: Rolf Hoppe; Förderpreise: Angela Krauss 1997: Wolfgang Hilbig; Förderpreise: Kerstin Hensel and Ulrich Zieger 1999: Eduard Goldstücker; Förderpreise: Marion Titze and Marcel Beyer 2001: Adolf Dresen; Förderpreise: Barbara Köhler and Oliver Bukowski 2003: Hans Joachim Schädlich; Förderpreise: Anke Stelling together with Robby Dannenberg and Christian Lehnert 2005: Armin Petras; Förderpreise: Martina Hefter and Jörg Bernig 2007: Ruth Klüger; Förderpreise: Volker Sielaff and Clemens Meyer 2009: Kito Lorenc; Förderpreise: Ulrike Almut Sandig and Dirk Laucke 2011: Monika Maron; Förderpreise: Renatus Deckert and Andreas Heidtmann 2013: Volker Lösch; Förderpreise: Franziska Gerstenberg and Judith Schalansky 2015: Carolin Emcke; Förderpreise: Julius Fischer and Wolfram Höll 2017: Kurt Drawert; Förderpreise: Thomas Freyer and Anna Kaleri 2019: Marcel Beyer; Förderpreise: Anja Kampmann and Bettina Wilpert 2021: ; Förderpreise: Jackie Thomae, Anna Mateur and Jasna Zajček 2023: ; Förderpreise: Sarah Lesch and Heike Geißler 2025: Clemens Meyer; Förderpreise: Georg Genoux and
Related awards Lessing Prize of the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg
for the Cultural Award of the German Freemasons
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