Ceremony October 5th 2026
03.02.2026
Starting signal for publishers
© Mo Wüstenhagen
Starting now, publishers can submit titles for the German Book Prize 2026 at www.deutscher-buchpreis.de/anmeldung. Until 11 March 2026, they may each submit two German-language novels – and recommend up to five additional titles – from their current or forthcoming lists. To participate, applicants must be members of the Börsenverein des Deutschen Buchhandels (German Publishers and Booksellers Association), or its Swiss or Austrian equivalents: the Schweizer Buchhandel- und Verlags-Verband and the Hauptverband des Österreichischen Buchhandels. The books must be published between 1 October 2025 and 8 September 2026, when the shortlist will be announced. Books, reading copies, e-books or galley proofs may be submitted until 12 June 2026.
The novel of the year is selected through a multi-stage process. First, the jury reviews all the novels submitted by publishers and compiles a longlist of 20 titles, which will be announced on 11 August 2026. From this list, the jury members select six titles for the shortlist, which will be released on 8 September 2026. These six authors will only find out who among them has won the German Book Prize on the evening of the award ceremony itself.
The prize will be awarded in the Kaisersaal of the Frankfurt Römer on 5 October 2026, to coincide with the start of the Frankfurter Buchmesse. The winner will receive 25,000 euros in prize money; the five finalists 2,500 euros each. Dorothee Elmiger won the German Book Prize 2025 for her novel “Die Holländerinnen”
The German Book Prize is awarded by 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). The main sponsor of the prize is the Deutsche Bank Stiftung (Deutsche Bank Foundation), and Frankfurter Buchmesse and the city of Frankfurt am Main are also partners.
The jury for the 2026 German Book Prize will be announced on April 7.
For more information on the German Book Prize please follow the links.
© Mo Wüstenhagen