The literary prizes of the Gleimhaus, both the prize for a scholarly work and the student prize, serve to honour the memory of the Halberstadt poet and Enlightenment philosopher Johann Wilhelm Ludwig Gleim.
The Gleim Literature Prize was established by the Förderkreis Gleimhaus e.V. in conjunction with the town of Halberstadt on the basis of a private donation in 1995. Since then, the prize has been awarded every two years to German-language research works that make a significant contribution to the cultural history of the 18th century and which should be written in such a way that they also reach a wider audience. The prize does not honour an author, but a book that has been published within the five years prior to the award ceremony.
The prize is endowed with 5,000 euros. It is financially supported by the Harzsparkasse Halberstadt, the Kuratorium Stadtkultur Halberstadt and the C. H. Beck Foundation Munich.
Jury
Prof. Dr Alexander Košenina, University of Hanover
Dr Angela Steidele, Cologne
Dr Ute Pott, Gleimhaus Halberstadt
Prof. Dr Jürgen Goldstein, University of Koblenz-Landau
Dr Eva Seemann, German Historical Institute Paris (prize winner 2023)
Eva Seemann makes it clear that people of small stature often assumed central functions at German courts in the early modern period up to the 18th century as confidants, advisors and political agents (and not just as entertainers and jokers). This publication is the first to reveal the overall phenomenon, which can be located between the history of absolutism, ceremonial, art and literature. Eva Seemann presents her research, which is based on an immense study of archives, in a comprehensible, straightforward and clear manner.
Heinrich Detering provides case studies on texts that deal with the interactions between plants, animals and humans. He unfolds a panorama of ideas that is fascinating and makes it clear how worthwhile it is to re-read well-known texts, such as those by Goethe (including "Faust"), Lichtenberg and Novalis.
Hagedorn's excitingly told story, which leads from the 17th to the 18th century as well as into the present day, on the one hand makes clear the wide network of the Bach family before the 'great' Bach and on the other hand documents the path of the researcher, who has to form his own, verified picture of the past from concrete objective tradition, presumed facts, comparable historical phenomena, clues from other scholars and seekers.
With great narrative talent, Jürgen Goldstein traces the short and extremely eventful life of the writer, translator, explorer, revolutionary and draughtsman Georg Forster (1754-1794). He focuses on Forster's perception of nature and foreign peoples by means of numerous texts.
This book provides an informative and narrative introduction to the life and work of Jean Paul (1765-1825), who saw the light of day 250 years ago, experienced years of hardship and eventually became a celebrated author. Jean Paul occupies a unique position in the literature of the late 18th and early 19th centuries.
Philipp Blom's book provides a fascinating insight into the intellectual forces in Paris in the second half of the 18th century, into the debates that took place in the salon of Baron Paul Henri Thiry d'Holbach and into the reception of the French Enlightenment to date. Blom presents his portrayal of pre-revolutionary France with knowledge and great narrative talent.
In this fundamental work on the history of reception and 18th-century research, Mark-Georg Dehrmann reconstructs the reception of the works of the writer and philosopher Anthony Ashley Cooper, the third Earl of Shaftesbury(1671-1713), from the beginnings to Wieland and Herder in a scholarly and linguistically masterful manner.
In this book, which represents the sum of his preoccupation with the Age of Enlightenment, Classicism and Romanticism, Günter de Bruyn paints a cultural portrait of Berlin at the turn of the 18th and 19th centuries in a vivid, intelligent manner and with great literary elegance.
In her work on Catharina Margaretha Linck, Angela Steidele uses extensive source research to reconstruct and recount the astonishing life of a woman who lived disguised as a man in the early 18th century and was probably the last woman in Europe to be executed for fornication with another woman in 1721.
In his comprehensive presentation of the Jewish Enlightenment (Haskalah), Christoph Schulte provides an overview of the most important concerns and debates on the Enlightenment in the Jewish minority, introduces the most important representatives with their respective views and arguments and thus presents a multi-layered picture of the motives and goals of the Haskalah.
In his study, Martin Geck creates a multi-faceted picture of the biography and work of the famous Thomaskantor and municipal music director in Leipzig. His book, which is an exciting read, impresses with its linguistic elegance and its reflective treatment of historical sources, which will convince not only experts, but also music lovers and interested readers.
In his wide-ranging cultural-historical study, Jürgen Osterhammel analyses the European perception of Asia in the 18th century with the help of numerous sources. Especially against the backdrop of the current globalisation debate, the look into the "Age of Enlightenment" is instructive; Osterhammel brings surprising findings to light.
In her brilliantly written study, Gudrun Gersmann examines the extent to which and the ways in which the literary world of the Ancien Régime actually prepared for revolution - for example, how censorship functioned, how the underground book trade was organised and how underground authors lived beyond the academies and salons.
Since 1996, the Gleimhaus has awarded the Gleimhaus Literature Prize annually to pupils in grades 5-12/13 in the Harz district. The competition with the formulation of the theme takes place in December. The three best works in each of three age groups (grades 5-6, 7-9 and 10-12/13) are honoured. The prize is financed exclusively by donations.
We would like to thank our sponsors: the Kuratorium Stadtkultur; AMEOS Klinikum Halberstadt GmbH and HalberstadtWerke GmbH for their financial support in organising the literature competition.
5th-6th grade
1. 1st place: Nella Böhme, "Die Zeitreiseoma"
2nd place: Martin Gorski, "Zwischenzeit"
3rd place: Mira Posselt, "Freundschaft für immer"
7th-9th grade
1. 1st place: Ananya Bönisch, "Der Mann vor der Tür"
2nd place: Johanna Schult, "Allein"
3rd place: Mara Asemota, "Ein Spaziergang durch die Zeiten"
10th-12th grade
1. 1st place: Magdalena Richter, "Zeitvergessen"
2nd place: Renske Fischer, "Zwischen den Zeiten"
3rd place: Jasmina Hahn, "Zeit vergisst nicht"
Gleimhaus
Museum of the German Enlightenment
Domplatz 31
38820 Halberstadt
Tel: 03941 6871-0
E-mail: gleimhaus@halberstadt.de
