List of the winners of the National Prize of the GDR III. Art and Literature Class (1949–1959)

This list represents the winners of the GDR National Prize in the III. Class for art and literature from 1949 to 1959. For the other decades and levels see the list of winners of the GDR National Prize .

list

Listed by years

1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959

year	Names	function	reason
1949 ↑	Kurt Barthel	writer	He is honored for his only book of verses so far, "Gedicht vom Menschen"
	Ernst Busch	Singer, actor	Hanns Eisler's songs based on texts by Kurt Tucholsky , Bert Brecht , Erich Weinert and Erich Mühsam became popular all over the world thanks to his voice.
	Herbert Eulenberg	writer	For his novel The Collapse
	Wolfgang Langhoff	Director of the German Theater	earned special merits with his staging of the "Optimistic Tragedy" by W. Vishnevsky
	Ernst Legal	Director of the German State Opera , actor and director	was for his services in the staging of the play wolves and sheep of Ostrowski awarded
	Carl Orff	composer	The opera Die Kluge stands out among his musical creations , for which he was awarded the national prize.
	Gustav Seitz	Professor at the University of Fine Arts in Berlin	The national prize was awarded to him for his OdF monument in Weißwasser.
	Erich Weinert	poet	He was awarded the national prize for his collection of poems “Calls to the Night”.
	Helmut Koch and the Berlin Radio Soloists' Association		have made great contributions to the maintenance of German and Soviet folk songs
1950 ↑	Heinz Bongartz	Head of the Dresden Philharmonic	for his successful endeavor to bring the works of music to the working population with the Dresden Philharmonic
	Paul Rilla	Literary and theater critic, member of the AdK	for his outstanding literary-critical and literary-historical work
	Hans Sandig	Head of the youth choir of the Mitteldeutscher Rundfunk in Leipzig	for the creation of the youth choir of the Mitteldeutscher Rundfunk and its rendering of new youth and fighting songs
	Eduard von Winterstein	actor	for his life's work
	Stephan Hermlin Ernst H. Meyer	Writer composer, professor at the HUB	for text and music of the Mansfeld Oratorio
	Gustav von Wangenheim , author Hans Rodenberg , director	Collective of "You are the right one"	for the stage work "You are the right one"
	Slatan Dudow , screenwriter and director Robert Baberske , cameraman Harry Hindemith , actor Irene Korb , actress	Collective "Our daily bread"	for the film " Our daily bread "
	Bruno Kleberg , editor Feodor Pappe , commentator Karl Plintzner , cameraman Jopp Huisken , cameraman Walter Fehdmer , cameraman	Collective "Always ready"	for the documentary "Always Ready"
	Karl Richter Amadeus Webersinke	Thomas organist lecturer at the State University for Music in Leipzig	for their organ performances on the occasion of the Bach celebrations in 1950
	Ludwig Justi	Director of the State Museums in Berlin	for his services to the scientific education of the museums of fine arts
1951 ↑	Werner Peters	Actor, Berlin-Charlottenburg	In the important film " Der Untertan " based on the novel by Heinrich Mann , Werner Peters played the leading role of Dr. Diederich Heßling convincingly designed. With that he has an essential part in the impressive artistic creation of this film.
	Andre Asriel	composer	Andre Asriel is one of the most successful young German composers, whose songs "Es lebe der Staatspräsident", "Friendship, Unity, Peace", for which he was awarded in the international cultural competition, "Heute lacht Brandenburg" and many others belong to our whole people and from the democratic ones Youth of Germany and the young people of other peoples were sung with great enthusiasm at the World Festival of Youth and Students for Peace .
	Franz Konwitschny	Conductor, Kapellmeister of the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra	As Gewandhauskapellmeister in Leipzig, Franz Konwitschny led this world-famous orchestra to new successes and, as a guest conductor in the People's Republic of Hungary and as an interpreter of classical Russian and contemporary Soviet music, of the great composer Peter Tchaikovsky and the Soviet artist Chrennikow , brought masterpieces of art to the people.
	Willi Kleinoschegg	actor	After thorough studies at the Dresden State Theater, Willi Kleinoschegg performed the role of the great Lenin in Pogodin's play “The Kremlin Glockenspiel”.
	Jurij Brězan Martin Nowak-Neumann Jurij Winar	Sorbian artist collective	After the fascist collapse and especially since the founding of the German Democratic Republic, our democratic state organs created the conditions for an unprecedented development of Sorbian folk culture, which the Sorbian artist collective gave visible expression. As a folk writer, Jurij Brezan has impressively shaped the Sorbian people's commitment to the German Democratic Republic with novels, amateur plays and poems, such as the poem "How I found my fatherland", created for the 75th birthday of the President of the German Democratic Republic, Wilhelm Pieck . Martin Nowack-Neumann emerged as a painter and graphic artist with good pictures and illustrations, which, based on national traditions, bring old Sorbian folk tales to life and symbolize the help of the German Democratic Republic for the largely rural Sorbian population. As a composer, musician and music educator, Jurij Winar laid the foundation for the creative renewal of Sorbian folk music. The collective of these three artists deserves the recognition of the entire German people for these achievements.
	Peter Huchel	writer	Editor of the magazine " Sinn und Form ". Peter Huchel is a recognized German poet who has enriched the new German poetry with his work, especially through his poetic descriptions of nature and life.
	Ernst Wilhelm Fiedler	camera operator	for his outstanding artistic achievements as a cameraman for DEFA, especially in the films " Grube Morgenrot ", " The blue swords ", " The last wages " and " ... and if only one were ... ".
	Eduard Claudius	writer	With his new novel “People by our side”, Eduard Claudius successfully described the way in which the artistic creation of problems of democratic construction and the struggle for peace was carried out.
	Charly Hähnel Bert Heller Willi Wolfgramm Will Schubert	Graphic artist collective	Charly Hähnel, the artistic director of DEWAG , Bert Heller as a freelance decorative painter and graphic artist, Willi Wolfgramm as a graphic artist and Will Schubert as an advertising designer have successfully contributed to the success of democratic rallies, celebrations and exhibitions, such as the birthday party for the President of the German Democratic Republic and before contributed to the effective artistic design of the Berlin street scene at the World Festival of Youth and Students for Peace .
1952 ↑	Viktor Klemperer	Professor with Chair for Romance Philology at the HUB Director of the Romance Institute at HUB, Director of the Romance Seminar at MLU Halle	for his academic work in the field of German and Romance philology
	Erich Arendt	writer	for his poems carried by combative humanism, collected in the volumes Trug die Nacht den Albatros and Bergwindballad
	Max Burghardt	General director of the Leipzig City Theaters	for the progressive, ensemble-building work on the development of realistic theater art in the GDR
	Karl Kayser	General director of the National Theater Weimar	for the progressive, ensemble-building work on the development of realistic theater art in the GDR
	Margarete Kupfer	actress	for their true to life, based on the best traditions of German theater and carried by a real collective spirit
	Kurt Palm	Costume designer	for his scientific, artistically excellent costume design at the Berlin state theaters
	Wolf Schubert	State curator in Halle	for the preservation, care and restoration of German art monuments, especially the Naumburg and Magdeburg cathedral
	Aenne Goldschmidt	Head of the dance group of the State Folk Art Ensemble in Berlin-Karlshorst	for their services to the rediscovery and creative development of German folk dance
	Andrew Thorndike	Director	for the excellent documentary " Wilhelm Pieck - The life of our president " and his collaboration on the films about the III. World Festival of Youth and Students for Peace in Berlin 1951
	Maria Langner	Writer	for her book Stahl , in which she artistically designed the structure of the Brandenburg steelworks
1953 ↑	Karl Grünberg	writer	for his novel “Brennende Ruhr”, the new edition of which conveys great revolutionary traditions of the German working class to the German people
	Eberhard Schmidt	composer	for his mass songs known beyond the borders of Germany, especially for the " Thälmannlied "
	Heinar Kipphardt	Dramaturge of the Deutsches Theater Berlin	for his play “Shakespeare Urgent Wanted”, which is a valuable contribution to the development of contemporary German satire
	Erwin Strittmatter	writer	for his comedy "Katzgraben", which is one of the poetically significant comedies in German dramatic literature of recent years
	Eugen Klagemann	camera operator	for artistic and technical achievements with the camera in new German films, in particular “Semmelweis”, “Figaros Hochzeit” and “Secret Files Solvay”.
	Paul Dessau	composer	for his contemporary compositions "Funeral March for Helmut Just ", "Symphonic March" and the melodramatic cantata " Lilo Herrmann "
1954 ↑	Heinrich Drake	Sculptor, professor at the University of Applied Arts , Berlin	for his excellent stone sculptures, especially the bust of Karl Marx , which represent the German visual arts worthy
	Fritz Kühn	Master blacksmith	for his services as a blacksmith in the artistic design of large building projects in the German Democratic Republic, especially in Stalinallee
	Max Butting	Full member of the German Academy of the Arts in Berlin	for his significant compositional work, especially the symphonic variations, the orchestral ballad and the VI. String quartet , as well as its important part in the development of German musical life
	Erwin Geschonneck	actor	for his versatile, high-quality representation on stage and in film
	Franz Kutschera	Actor and director, Berlin-Charlottenburg	for his significant achievement as an actor and director in developing realistic German art of representation
	Wolfgang Heinz	Director at the Deutsches Theater , Berlin	for his significant directing work in the staging of the plays “ Othello ” and “Ssomow and others”, which represent a further step towards the development of realistic stage art
	Hedda Zinner	Writer, Berlin	for her stage work “ Der Teufelskreis ”, which is a valuable contribution to the unity of the German working class and in the struggle for peace
	Stephan Hermlin Max Jaap Eberhard Rebling	Collective "Beethoven-Film"	for the design of the documentary "Ludwig van Beethoven", which brings the personality and musical work of Beethoven closer to our people
	Wolfgang Kohlhaase Gerhard Klein	Collective "Alarm in the circus"	for the design of the film " Alarm im Zirkus ", which broke new ground in the field of youth adventure films, which successfully counteracts the corrosive influences of American gangster films
1955 ↑	Alexander Abusch	Writer, Deputy Minister of Culture	for his progressive literary work, especially for his book Schiller, Größe und Tragik eines Deutschen Geniuses
	Johann Cilenšek	Professor at the University of Music in Weimar , composer	for his violin concerto and his first symphony
	Johannes-Ernst Koehler	Professor at the University of Music in Weimar , church music director	for his significant artistic achievements in the field of organ music
	Hans Marchwitza	writer	for his book Roheisen , in which the organized force of the working class in building the foundations of socialism in the GDR is artistically designed
	Erwin Strittmatter	writer	for his book Tinko , in which life in the country after the land reform was made artistically valuable
	Maxim Vallentin	Director of the Maxim Gorki Theater in Berlin	for his services to the processing of new, progressive and scientific knowledge in the field of the performing arts
1956 ↑	Karl von Appen	Chief set designer at the Berliner Ensemble	for his artistic, realistic stage design, with which he made an essential contribution to the development of realistic stage design
	Fidelio F. Finke	Professor at the University of Music in Leipzig , composer	for his significant compositional work, especially for the III. Orchestral suite and its chamber music
	Rudolf Bergander	Painter and graphic artist, director of the Dresden Academy of Fine Arts	for his realistic, artistically outstanding achievements in the field of painting and graphics
	Ernst Kunstmann	Animated film cameraman	for its excellent, recognized at home and abroad services as trick cameraman, through which he significantly to the artistic success of films of the DEFA has contributed
	Kurt Rehm	Chamber singer at the German State Opera Berlin	in recognition of his great artistic achievements in both singing and acting during his ten years as the first lyric baritone at the Deutsche Staatsoper Berlin
	Leo Spies	composer	for his cantata, dedicated to the memory of the Rosenbergs , as the culmination of his previous compositional work, with which he has made a significant contribution to the development of new music
	Gerhard Unger	Chamber singer at the German State Opera Berlin	for his services as a chamber singer and first tenor buffo in many years at the Deutsche Staatsoper Berlin
1957 ↑	Irmgard Arnold	Chamber singer at the Komische Oper Berlin	for her excellent performance of the title role in the operas The Little Fox and The Silent Woman, as well as for her convincing and combative interpretation of progressive and contemporary songs
	Benno Voelkner	writer	for his literary achievements, especially for his book The People of Karvenbruch , in which the life of the farm workers and the importance of their struggle from the turn of the century to 1945 is presented in a convincing way
	Heinz Rückert , senior stage director of the opera and the Handel Festival in Halle Horst-Tanu Margraf , general music director at the State Theater of Saxony-Anhalt Rudolf Heinrich , stage designer at the State Theater of Saxony-Anhalt	Collective of the Handel Festival	for their part in the revival and new artistic design of the Handel operas, which made the humanistic content of Handel's works accessible to the German people
	Erich Witte	Chamber singer	for his artistic achievements as a chamber singer at the German State Opera in Berlin , of which he has been an outstanding member since 1945
	Franz Fuehmann	writer	for his poetic work, especially for his war stories, in which he artistically shapes the transformation of young German soldiers into a humanistic worldview in the fascist war
1958 ↑	Bruno Apitz	writer	for his excellent Buchenwald novel Nackt unter Wölfen , with which he sets a lasting monument to the resistance fighters against fascism and inspires our youth for the fight against fascism, for peace and socialism
	Eva Fleischer	Song singer	for their interpretation of German and international classical and progressive songs, in which their commitment to our state and to the construction of socialism is expressed
	Lilo Gruber	Ballet master at the German State Opera Berlin	for her excellent ballet productions, especially for Gajaneh in the German State Opera and Die Flamme von Paris in Leipzig, and for her great artistic achievements in major cultural events, with which she expresses her commitment to our state and to the construction of socialism
	Gerhard Stolze	Chamber singer at the German State Opera Berlin	for his outstanding artistic achievements during his more than five years with the German State Opera, which made him known as one of the best vocal soloists in Germany
	Klaus Wittkugel	Graphic, professor at the University of Applied Arts Berlin	for his excellent graphic works, posters and exhibitions, especially for his exhibition Militarism without a mask
	Kurt Barthel , writer Hanns-Anselm Perten , general manager in Rostock	Collective 40th anniversary and Baltic Sea week	for their contribution to the outstanding artistic and trend-setting design of the festival on the occasion of the 40th anniversary of the Great October Socialist Revolution and the Baltic Sea Week, which, through the sensible combination of known means of expression with new forms, had a strong and lasting effect in terms of socialist awareness-raising
	Sonja Schöner	Chamber singer at the Komische Oper Berlin	for her outstanding artistic achievements during her long membership in the Komische Oper and for her creative collaboration in the development of music theater
1959 ↑	Theo Adam	Chamber singer at the German State Opera Berlin
	Karl Kayser	General director of the Leipzig City Theater
	Bernhard Kretzschmar	Painter and graphic artist
	Kurt Schwaen	composer
	Ingeborg Wenglor	Chamber singer at the German State Opera Berlin
	Manfred Wekwerth Peter Palitzsch	Collective of the Berliner Ensemble	for the performance The Resistant Rise of Arturo Ui
	Werner Fehlig , Head of Dramatic Art at DFF Helmut Sakowski , writer Wilhelm Gröhl , director Fred Reichwald , writer	Collective television games at the DFF	Appreciation of the television games The risk of Maria Diehl , The hectare hunter , The decision of Lene Mattke
	Erich Riedeberger Fred Dittrich Hilda Riedeberger	Collective sports show at the III. German gymnastics and sports festival 1959	for their part in the design of the sports show of the III. German gymnastics and sports festival in 1959, with which a new art form of sporty-dance-dramatic movement game was created, which means an excellent creative achievement
	Wolfgang Heinz Karl Paryla	Collective Wallenstein production at the Deutsches Theater

Prize amounts

year	Prize amount in marks
1949	225,000
1950	250,000
1951	225,000
1952	250,000
1953	150,000
1954	225,000
1955	150,000
1956	175,000
1957	125,000
1958	175,000
1959	225,000
total	1,175,000

swell

New Germany of the respective years. The awards were made from 1950 as part of the national holiday celebrations on October 7th. Issues from:

August 26, 1949, page 3
October 9, 1950, pages 3 and 4
October 9, 1951, page 3
Oct. 7, 1952, page 7
October 8, 1953, pages 3 and 4
Oct. 8, 1954, page 6
Oct. 8, 1955, page 3
Oct. 7, 1956, page 7
Oct. 7, 1957, page 4
Oct. 7, 1958, page 6
Oct. 4, 1959, page 3

Individual evidence

↑ For documentary reasons, the original historical descriptions used by the SED newspaper Neues Deutschland are presented here. However, these can be flawed, tendentious, outdated or politically extreme. If in doubt, corrections and alternative descriptions should be made in the "Comments" column.
↑ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ The German National Prize Winners 1949. In: Neues Deutschland . ZEFYS, Archives of the Berlin State Library , August 26, 1949, p. 3 , accessed on April 17, 2014 .
↑ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j The winners of the National Prize III. Class. In: New Germany. ZEFYS, Archive of the Berlin State Library, October 9, 1950, p. 4 , accessed on April 17, 2014 .
↑ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h The winners of the German National Prize 1951 - National Prize III. Class. In: New Germany. ZEFYS, Archive of the Berlin State Library, October 9, 1951, p. 3 , accessed on April 17, 2014 .
↑ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j Awarding of the National Prize 1952. Winner of the National Prize III. Class. In: New Germany. ZEFYS, Archives of the Berlin State Library, October 7, 1952, p. 7 , accessed on April 17, 2014 .
↑ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f Winner of the German National Prize 1953. National Prize III. Class. In: New Germany. ZEFYS, Archives of the Berlin State Library, October 8, 1953, p. 4 , accessed on April 17, 2014 .
↑ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ Winner of the German National Prize 1954. III. Class. In: New Germany. ZEFYS, Archives of the Berlin State Library, October 8, 1954, p. 6 , accessed on April 17, 2014 .
↑ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f winner of the German National Prize 1955. National Prize in the field of art and literature. III. Class. In: New Germany. ZEFYS, Archives of the Berlin State Library, October 7, 1955, p. 7 , accessed on April 17, 2014 .
↑ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g Winner of the National Prize 1956. In the field of art and literature. III. Class. In: New Germany. ZEFYS, Archive of the Berlin State Library, October 7, 1956, p. 7 , accessed on April 18, 2014 .
↑ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e Honor roll. Winner of the National Prize 1957. III. Class. In: New Germany. ZEFYS, Archive of the Berlin State Library, October 7, 1957, p. 4 , accessed on April 17, 2014 .
↑ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g winner of the National Prize 1958. In: Berliner Zeitung. ZEFYS, Archives of the Berlin State Library, October 7, 1958, p. 3 , accessed on May 6, 2014 .
↑ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ High awards for the 10th anniversary. National prizes 1959. In the field of art and literature III. Class. In: New Germany. ZEFYS, Archives of the Berlin State Library, October 4, 1959, p. 3 , accessed on April 18, 2014 .
↑ Television drama - on the trail of time. In: New Germany. ZEFYS, Archives of the Berlin State Library, October 19, 1959, p. 3 , accessed on May 7, 2014 .
↑ Initiators and designers of the festival. In: New Germany. ZEFYS, Archive of the Berlin State Library, October 12, 1959, p. 3 , accessed on May 7, 2014 .

[Disclaimer-1] For documentary reasons, the original historical descriptions used by the SED newspaper Neues Deutschland are presented here. However, these can be flawed, tendentious, outdated or politically extreme. If in doubt, corrections and alternative descriptions should be made in the "Comments" column.

[ND19490826-2] ↑ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ The German National Prize Winners 1949. In: Neues Deutschland . ZEFYS, Archives of the Berlin State Library , August 26, 1949, p. 3 , accessed on April 17, 2014 .

[ND19501009-4-3] ↑ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j The winners of the National Prize III. Class. In: New Germany. ZEFYS, Archive of the Berlin State Library, October 9, 1950, p. 4 , accessed on April 17, 2014 .

[ND19511009-4] ↑ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h The winners of the German National Prize 1951 - National Prize III. Class. In: New Germany. ZEFYS, Archive of the Berlin State Library, October 9, 1951, p. 3 , accessed on April 17, 2014 .

[ND19521007-5] ↑ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j Awarding of the National Prize 1952. Winner of the National Prize III. Class. In: New Germany. ZEFYS, Archives of the Berlin State Library, October 7, 1952, p. 7 , accessed on April 17, 2014 .

[ND19531008-6] ↑ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f Winner of the German National Prize 1953. National Prize III. Class. In: New Germany. ZEFYS, Archives of the Berlin State Library, October 8, 1953, p. 4 , accessed on April 17, 2014 .

[ND19541008-7] ↑ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ Winner of the German National Prize 1954. III. Class. In: New Germany. ZEFYS, Archives of the Berlin State Library, October 8, 1954, p. 6 , accessed on April 17, 2014 .

[ND19551007-8] ↑ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f winner of the German National Prize 1955. National Prize in the field of art and literature. III. Class. In: New Germany. ZEFYS, Archives of the Berlin State Library, October 7, 1955, p. 7 , accessed on April 17, 2014 .

[ND19561007-9] ↑ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g Winner of the National Prize 1956. In the field of art and literature. III. Class. In: New Germany. ZEFYS, Archive of the Berlin State Library, October 7, 1956, p. 7 , accessed on April 18, 2014 .

[ND19571007-10] Honor roll. Winner of the National Prize 1957. III. Class. In: New Germany. ZEFYS, Archive of the Berlin State Library, October 7, 1957, p. 4 , accessed on April 17, 2014 .

[ND19581007-11] ↑ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g winner of the National Prize 1958. In: Berliner Zeitung. ZEFYS, Archives of the Berlin State Library, October 7, 1958, p. 3 , accessed on May 6, 2014 .

[ND19591004-12] ↑ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ High awards for the 10th anniversary. National prizes 1959. In the field of art and literature III. Class. In: New Germany. ZEFYS, Archives of the Berlin State Library, October 4, 1959, p. 3 , accessed on April 18, 2014 .

[ND19591019-13] Television drama - on the trail of time. In: New Germany. ZEFYS, Archives of the Berlin State Library, October 19, 1959, p. 3 , accessed on May 7, 2014 .

[ND19591012-14] Initiators and designers of the festival. In: New Germany. ZEFYS, Archive of the Berlin State Library, October 12, 1959, p. 3 , accessed on May 7, 2014 .