Ceremony October 13th 2025
08.04.2025
124 publishers submit 200 novels
© Mo Wüstenhagen
124 German-language publishers have entered a total of 200 titles into the running for the best novel of the year. Of these publishers, 88 are based in Germany, 18 in Switzerland and 18 in Austria.
Of the titles submitted, 90 are from the publishers’ current spring programmes, 86 will be released in the autumn and 24 were published last autumn. Each publisher was allowed to submit a maximum of two titles that were or will be published between October 2024 and 16 September 2025, when the shortlist will be announced. In addition, they could recommend up to five further titles. This year, the list of recommendations included 125 novels. The jury may request titles from this list for inclusion in the selection process.
During their first joint meeting, the members of the jury appointed Laura de Weck (Schweizer Radio und Fernsehen) as their speaker. The jury also includes: Maria Carolina Foi (University of Trieste), Jürgen Kaube (Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung), Friedhelm Marx (University of Bamberg), Kathrin Matern (“Frau Rilke” bookshop, Neustrelitz), Lara Sielmann (Deutschlandfunk Kultur) and Shirin Sojitrawalla (independent critic).
Find more information on the German Book Prize here.
The hashtag for the German Book Prize 2025 is #dbp25.
Download picture of the jury members
From left to right: Laura de Weck, Kathrin Matern, Friedhelm Marx, Shirin Sojitrawalla, Jürgen Kaube, Maria Carolina Foi, Lara Sielmann
© Mo Wüstenhagen