Frankfurt am Main / Berlin

Statement from the jury:

“Who decides how we read the past? Stephan Malinowski has written an outstandingly researched and brilliantly narrated book on the role of the Hohenzollerns since 1918. Malinowski’s answer to the question of whether the ruling family aided and abetted the Nazis is clear: in building the ‘Third Reich’, the Hohenzollern dynasty and the Nazi movement forged a symbolic-political alliance. The book, which combines social and political contemporary history with a family portrait, is also a brilliant study of a conservative and rightwing milieu and its hostility to the Republic. It stands out for its stringent argumentation and commanding knowledge of its sources. Malinowski gives a convincing answer to the Hohenzollerns’ restitution claims while at the same time defending academic freedom against the forces that oppose it.” 

The members of the jury for the German Non-Fiction Prize 2022 are: Stefan Koldehoff (Deutschlandfunk), Dr Klaus Kowalke (“Lessing & Kompanie” bookstore), Tania Martini (die tageszeitung), Prof. Dr Meron Mendel (Bildungsstätte Anne Frank – Anne Frank Educational Centre), Dr Jeanne Rubner (Technical University of Munich), Denis Scheck (ARD) and Prof. Dr Barbara Stollberg-Rilinger (Wissenschaftskolleg zu Berlin – Berlin Institute for Advanced Study).  

The following books were also nominated for the award: Bettina Baltschev, Am Rande der Glückseligkeit. Über den Strand(Berenberg Verlag); Alice Bota, Die Frauen von Belarus. Von Revolution, Mut und dem Drang nach Freiheit(Berlin Verlag); Stefan Creuzberger, Das deutsch-russische Jahrhundert. Geschichte einer besonderen Beziehung (Rowohlt Verlag); Samira El Ouassil & Friedemann Karig, Erzählende Affen. Mythen, Lügen, Utopien – wie Geschichten unser Leben bestimmen (Ullstein Verlag); Ludwig Huber, Das rationale Tier. Eine kognitionsbiologische Spurensuche(Suhrkamp Verlag); Steffen Mau, Sortiermaschinen. Die Neuerfindung der Grenze im 21. Jahrhundert (Verlag C.H.Beck) and Natan Sznaider, Fluchtpunkte der Erinnerung. Über die Gegenwart von Holocaust und Kolonialismus (Carl Hanser Verlag). 

The Stiftung Buchkultur und Leseförderung des Börsenverein des Deutschen Buchhandels (Foundation for Book Culture and the Promotion of Reading of the German Publishers and Booksellers Association) is awarding the German Non-Fiction Prize 2022 in recognition of the non-fiction book of the year, an outstanding work written in German that inspires social debate. The award ceremony was held at the Humboldt Forum in Berlin. The livestream of the event can be viewed online. 

The main supporter of the German Non-Fiction Prize is the Deutsche Bank Stiftung (Deutsche Bank Foundation). The Stiftung Humboldt Forum im Berliner Schloss (Foundation of the Humboldt Forum in the Berlin Palace) also supports the award. Minister of State for Culture Claudia Roth is patron of the award, and Deutschlandfunk Kultur, the Austrian Broadcasting Corporation ORF and brand.eins are media partners. 

A press photo of the winner will be available from approx. 8 p.m. at www.boersenverein.de/pressefotos.