The German Publishers and Booksellers Association's Foundation for Book Culture and Reading Promotion acknowledges excellent German-language nonfiction works that stimulate social debate with this award. On April 12, the nominations for 2022 were announced. The award ceremony will take place on May 30 at Berlin Castle's Humboldt Forum.
Who decides how we read the past? Stephan Malinowski has written an outstandingly researched and brilliantly narrated book on the role of the Hohenzollerns since 1918. Malinowski’s answer to the question of whether the ruling family aided and abetted the Nazis is clear: in building the ‘Third Reich’, the Hohenzollern dynasty and the Nazi movement forged a symbolic-political alliance. The book, which combines social and political contemporary history with a family portrait, is also a brilliant study of a conservative and rightwing milieu and its hostility to the Republic. It stands out for its stringent argumentation and commanding knowledge of its sources. Malinowski gives a convincing answer to the Hohenzollerns’ restitution claims while at the same time defending academic freedom against the forces that oppose it.