Article

These are the nominees for the German Non-Fiction Prize 2025

---

The eight nominees of the German Non-Fiction Prize have been chosen. The jury selected them from 234 titles published since April 2024 and submitted by 133 publishers.

Jury spokesperson Patricia Rahemipour, Institute for Museum Research, Prussian Cultural Heritage Foundation, released the following statement:

“At their best, non-fiction books allow us to view the world from a certain distance and, paradoxically, with an immediacy that few genres can match. The criteria for selection are even more diverse. Surprising approaches and broad thematic scopes guided the jury’s choices. The nominated authors meet these conditions with ease, even when addressing the major issues of our time: war, education, AI and digitalisation, gender equality, the climate crisis, and formative historical events and figures. The eight shortlisted books explore these topics in ways that make complex issues accessible and readable, while also challenging familiar certainties with unconventional perspectives.”

The nominated titles

• Ingo Dachwitz & Sven Hilbig, Digitaler Kolonialismus. Wie Tech-Konzerne und Großmächte die Welt unter sich aufteilen (C.H.Beck), February 2025
• Aladin El-Mafaalani, Sebastian Kurtenbach & Klaus Peter Strohmeier, Kinder – Minderheit ohne Schutz. Aufwachsen in der alternden Gesellschaft (Kiepenheuer & Witsch), January 2025
• Franz-Stefan Gady, Die Rückkehr des Krieges. Warum wir wieder lernen müssen, mit Krieg umzugehen (Quadriga), October 2024
• Ines Geipel, Fabelland. Der Osten, der Westen, der Zorn und das Glück (S. Fischer), August 2024
• Martina Heßler, Sisyphos im Maschinenraum. Eine Geschichte der Fehlbarkeit von Mensch und Technologie (C.H.Beck), February 2025
• Walburga Hülk, Victor Hugo. Jahrhundertmensch (Matthes & Seitz Berlin), November 2024
• Bernhard Kegel, Mit Pflanzen die Welt retten. Grüne Lösungen gegen den Klimawandel (DuMont), October 2024
• Ulli Lust, Die Frau als Mensch. Am Anfang der Geschichte (Reprodukt), February 2025

The jury of the German Non-Fiction Prize 2025

© Mo Wüstenhagen

f. l. t. r.: Michael Lemling, Christiane Hoffmann, Katrin Vohland, Michael Hagner, Patricia Rahemipour, Heike Schmoll, Manuela Lenzen

• Michael Hagner (ETH Zurich)
• Christiane Hoffmann (author)
• Michael Lemling (“Buchhandlung Lehmkuhl” bookshop)
• Manuela Lenzen (science journalist)
• Patricia Rahemipour, Institute for Museum Research, Prussian Cultural Heritage Foundation
• Heike Schmoll (Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung)
• Katrin Vohland (Natural History Museum Vienna)

About the German Non-Fiction Prize

This year, for the third time, the Stiftung Buchkultur und Leseförderung des Börsenvereins des Deutschen Buchhandels (Foundation for Book Culture and the Promotion of Reading of the German Publishers and Booksellers Association) will award this prize, worth a total of 42,500 euros, to the original German-language edition of an outstanding non-fiction book that inspires social debate.

From the eight nominated titles, the jury will select the best non-fiction book of the year, which will be announced in Hamburg on 17 June 2025. The winner will receive 25,000 euros, the seven nominees 2,500 euros each. The awards ceremony will be held in the Small Hall of the Elbphilharmonie concert hall in Hamburg.

The Deutsche Bank Stiftung (Deutsche Bank Foundation) is the main supporter of the prize, which is also backed by the city of Hamburg and Frankfurter Buchmesse.