Hans Fallada Prize of the City of Neumünster

The Hans Fallada Prize of the City of Neumünster is awarded every two years and honors outstanding younger German-speaking prose authors who address socio-political themes of the past decade in their works. With an endowed funding amount of €10,000, the prize recognizes literary quality as well as political-social relevance in the spirit of Hans Fallada, who, as a chronicler of his time, narratively processed the complex social conflicts of the Weimar Republic and the post-war years. The award is aimed at privately funded authors from the entire German-speaking area. Self-nominations are excluded: a nomination can only be made by a jury member to ensure the selective nature and professional expertise of the jury.

The jury decides based on the literary quality of the submitted prose, its political-social relevance, and the age of the nominees. Each jury member has one vote and may propose up to two candidates. The decision is made by simple majority, and legal recourse is excluded. The goal is to support committed emerging authors and strengthen their work in public perception. Through the central awarding in Neumünster, the city emphasizes its role as a cultural sponsor that supports young literary voices and contributes to the development of politically engaged narrative forms in the German-speaking region.