The Georg Büchner Prize was first established during the Weimar Republic by the State of Hesse. Its purpose was to recognise writers, artists, actors and singers. It was first awarded in 1923 in the state capital, Darmstadt.
Since 1951 the new Büchner Prize has been awarded annually by the German Academy for Language and Literature. According to the charter of the Academy, it is given to authors »writing in the German language whose work is considered especially meritorious and who have made a significant contribution to contemporary German culture.«
The prize is awarded at a ceremony held during the autumn conference of the German Academy in Darmstadt.
The prize currently comes with an award of €50,000.
Writer
Born 25/6/1926
Deceased 17/10/1973
Member since 1957
Scharf von Erkenntnis und bitter von Sehnsucht.
Jury members
Juryvorsitz: Hanns W. Eppelsheimer
Friedrich Bischoff, Kasimir Edschmid (Ehrenpräsident), Richard Gerlach, Hermann Kasack (Ehrenpräsident), Marie Luise Kaschnitz, Karl Krolow, Wilhelm Lehmann, Fritz Martini, Gerhart Pohl, Dolf Sternbergerk, W. E. Süskind, Fritz Usinger