Einhard Prize

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The Einhard Prize for Biographical Literature has been awarded since 1999 by the Einhard Foundation in Seligenstadt , a community foundation established in 1998.

With the award, the foundation intends to “ keep the memory of Einhard and his work alive in a European context ”. By promoting biographical literature with a European reference, the historical roots of European unification are to be made visible and their significance for today's political and social developments re-opened.

The prize, currently endowed with 10,000 euros, is awarded every two years in Seligenstadt , to Einhard's grave. The winners are each selected by an international jury.

The Einhard Foundation in Seligenstadt

The Einhard Foundation in Seligenstadt is a community foundation to commemorate Einhard and for Europe and to maintain Einhard's legacy. It was decided on at the suggestion and under the leadership of the "Order Brotherhood vom Steyffen Spoon" in Seligenstadt and brought into being in 1998 by a group of Seligenstadt citizens.

It was established on March 13, 1998 as a foundation under civil law and approved on April 23, 1998 by the Darmstadt regional council.

The foundation's mandate is formulated as follows in the constitution: The purpose of the foundation is to illustrate the idea of ​​European unification on the level of a traditional city and to make the roots of European nations visible. The purpose of the foundation is achieved in particular through:

  1. The award of a literary prize for biography named after Einhard.
  2. In addition, the purpose of the foundation is realized through the scientific cultivation of memory and research on Einhard and his time.

The Einhard Prize for Biography

The Einhard Prize is awarded to the outstanding biography of a personality whose scientific, religious, political, artistic or economic work is closely related to Europe. Europe is by no means to be understood only politically, for example in the sense of the EU, but above all historically and in terms of the history of ideas. The author who received the award can also live in a country outside of Europe. The winners are selected by an international board of trustees (jury).

The Einhard Prize is presented every two years in Seligenstadt and is endowed with € 10,000. The handover takes place in connection with Einhard's day of death, i.e. H. around March 14th of the year.

Award winners

  • 1999: Otto Plant , Professor emeritus at Indiana University in Bloomington, USA: For his biography of Otto von Bismarck
  • 2001: Brian David Boyd , Professor at the University of Auckland, New Zealand: For his biography of Vladimir Nabokov
  • 2003: Joachim C. Fest , historian and publicist: For his biographical life's work, taking into account the work on Albert Speer
  • 2005: Irène Heidelberger-Leonard , Professor at the Free University of Brussels: For “Revolte in Resignation”, the biography of Jean Améry
  • 2007: Eberhard Weis , professor emeritus at the University of Munich: for his two-volume biography of the Bavarian statesman Maximilian Graf von Montgelas
  • 2009: Margot Friedlander , Holocaust survivor, for her autobiography “Attempts to Make Your Life”, published in 2008
  • 2011: Hugh Barr Nisbet , professor emeritus for German studies at the University of Cambridge: For his biography of Gotthold Ephraim Lessing
  • 2013: John CG Röhl , Professor emeritus for European History at the University of Sussex: For his three-volume biography of the German Emperor Wilhelm II.
  • 2015: Joachim Radkau , professor emeritus for history at Bielefeld University: For his biography Theodor Heuss'
  • 2017: Albrecht Schöne , professor emeritus for modern German literature at the Georg-August-Universität in Göttingen: For his book "Der Briefschreiber Goethe"
  • 2019: Emmanuelle Loyer , French historian: For her biography "Claude Lévi-Strauss"

The scientific care of the memory of Einhard and research of Einhard and his time

Authenticity of the bones of Einhard and Imma

When the sarcophagus was opened on October 4, 2004, in cooperation with the Einhard Working Group and the Steyffen Spoon, appropriate samples were taken from the bones. Using the radiocarbon method , the man was found to have died by 835, around the age of 70; so he should have been born around 765. The man was only 1.62 meters tall. Einhard's date of birth is uncertain but is estimated to be around 760; he died on March 14, 840 in Seligenstadt. Numerous documents contain indications that he was short of stature. There is therefore a good match. The scientists dated the year of death of the woman at around 840. Imma died around 836. Here, too, there is good agreement.

Seligenstadt biography talks

Fostering the memory of Einhard also includes promoting biographical literature. To this end, an author reading was held for the first time on March 14, 2008, together with the Seligenstadt cultural ring. Uwe Wittstock, a doctorate in literary critic and cultural correspondent for WELT, presented his biography Marcel Reich Ranicki - Story of a Life . Then the author discussed the possibilities and limits of a biography in a “biography talk” with Bernt Ture von zur Mühlen , author, literary scholar and lecturer at the schools of the German book trade. In 2014 the Frankfurt mediaevalist Johannes Fried presented his biography of Charlemagne in an interview with the lawyer and publicist Alexandra Kemmerer, member of the board of trustees and presidium . Violence and belief . In 2017, the author and publicist Ina Hartwig, head of the cultural department of the City of Frankfurt, spoke to Alexandra Kemmerer about her biography project Wer war Ingeborg Bachmann? A biography in fragments (2017). In 2018 a conversation followed with the journalist Patrick Bahners, member of the board of trustees since 2012, about his biography Helmut Kohl. Character of Power (2017).

Contributions to the Einhard Symposium

The second international symposium on the life and work of Einhard was held in Seligenstadt in September 2008. Under the patronage of the then Hessian Prime Minister Roland Koch, this scientific conference was organized by the Administration of the State Palaces and Gardens in Hesse and the Magistrate of the City of Seligenstadt, together with the Einhard Working Group, the Support Group Historical Seligenstadt and the Einhard Foundation. Hermann Schefers from the administration of the State Palaces and Gardens, who is also a member of the Presidium of the Einhard Foundation, was responsible for the scientific management. The foundation also participated with a poster to present its activities.

Bodies

  • Presidium: Peter Hammann (chairman), Robert Tampé (vice chairman), Axel-Johannes Korb (treasurer), Nicolas Wolz (public relations), Karl Wolf (assessor), Alexandra Kemmerer (assessor 2012 to 2018), Thomas Laube (managing director) .
  • Board of Trustees: Robert Tampé (chairman and representative of the founders until 2018), Alexandra Kemmerer (representative of the founders from 2010 to 2018), Jürg Altwegg (expert member since 2003), Patrick Bahners (expert member since 2012), Frank Rexroth (expert member since 2018 ), Ina Hartwig (competent member since 2017), Franziska Augstein (competent member since 2012); Gustav Seibt (competent member until 2012), Jeremy Adler (competent member until 2012), Jean Favier (competent member until 2003), Roberto Zapperi (competent member until 2003).
  • Elders: Franz-Friedrich Neubauer † (Honorary Chairman), Andreas Neubauer (Deputy Chairman until 2010), Peter Laube (Assessor until 2005), Franz Preuschoff (Assessor until 2010).

Publications

Web links