About the Prize

The German Non-Fiction Prize is presented to the non-fiction book of the year as an annual award of the Stiftung Buchkultur und Leseförderung (Foundation for Book Culture and the Promotion of Reading) to honour outstanding non-fiction books in German-language original edition that inspire social debate.

The prize aims to promote awareness of non-fiction as a basis for transmitting knowledge, developing informed opinions and encouraging public discourse.

Criteria for the award are: a relevant subject, the narrative quality of the text, the presentation of the topic, the clarity of the language and accessibility of the material and the quality of the research. The prize is worth a total of 42,500 euros.

Minister of State for Culture Claudia Roth is patron of the German Non-Fiction Prize. Deutsche Bank Stiftung (Deutsche Bank Foundation) is the main supporter of the prize, which is also backed by the city of Hamburg and Frankfurter Buchmesse.

Dates German Non-Fiction Prize 2025

© Daniel Müller

Prize money and award ceremony

The German Non-Fiction Prize is endowed with a total of 42,500 euros. The winner receives 25,000 euros, the seven nominees 2,500 euros each. The non-fiction book of the year 2025 will be announced at the award ceremony on 17 June 2025. The eight nominated authors only find out which of them is the winner of the German Non-Fiction Prize on the evening of the award ceremony.

Insights require attention.Klaus Kowalke, “Lessing und Kompanie” bookshop, Chemnitz

The selection process

Publishers from Germany, Austria and Switzerland may submit up to two German-language non-fiction books from their current or planned programme for consideration for the prize. The jury reads all submitted books that meet the criteria for participation and may request additional titles that it deems appropriate.

The non-fiction book of the year is selected through a two-stage process. First, the jury compiles a list of nominations comprising eight titles, which is announced around World Book Day in April. From this selection, the members of the jury then choose the non-fiction book of the year, which is announced in June.

Expanding horizons and inspiring debate – these are two key attributes of non-fiction. As a result, the German Non-Fiction Prize contributes significantly to a wide-ranging social discourse.Jürgen Fitschen, Chairman of the Deutsche Bank Stiftung (Deutsche Bank Foundation)

© vntr.media

The jury

The jury of the German Non-Fiction Prize is composed of seven experts from the areas of non-fiction criticism, journalism, science, the cultural sector and the book trade. The jury is comprised of new members each year. The jury of 2025 will be announced on 5 November 2024.

Die Akademie (Academy of the German Non-Fiction Prize)

The primary task of the advisory board is to select the members of the jury each year. The members of the Akademie des Deutschen Sachbuchpreises include representatives of the book, media and culture industries, science, as well as sponsors and partners of the prize. The Chairperson is the President of the Börsenverein Karin Schmidt-Friderichs.

© Christof Jakob

Attendance

Publishers may submit up to two German-language non-fiction books from their current or planned programme for consideration for the prize. Titles that have not yet been published may also be submitted; in this case, the manuscript should be provided first, followed by the book as soon as it is available in printed form.

Applicants must be members of the Börsenverein des Deutschen Buchhandels or of the Swiss or Austrian equivalents, the Schweizer Buchhandels- und Verlags-Verband and the Hauptverband des Österreichischen Buchhandels. Authors may not submit their work independently. The complete list of submitted titles will not be made public.

The submitted titles must

• satisfy the criteria for non-fiction, technically and in terms of content (according to the jury’s definition)
• be German-language original editions
• be monographs with a clearly identifiable author
• be published between 24 April 2024 and 29 April 2025
• be available in bookstores no later than the date on which the nominations are announced (29 April 2025)

Submission period

The submission period for the German Non-Fiction Prize 2025 starts on 24 September 2024 and ends on 20 November 2024.