The Kurd Laßwitz Award (german: link=no, Kurd-Laßwitz-Preis) is a science fiction award from Germany. The award is named after the science fiction author

Kurd Laßwitz Kurd Lasswitz (german: link=no, Kurd Laßwitz; 20 April 1848 – 17 October 1910) was a German author, scientist, and philosopher. He has been called "the father of German science fiction". He sometimes used the pseudonym ''Velatus''. Biograph ...

. Eligible for nomination in all categories except for the ''Foreign Work'' category are only works published in German originally.

Wolfgang Jeschke Wolfgang Jeschke (19 November 1936 – 10 June 2015) was a German science fiction author and editor at Heyne Verlag. In 1987, he won the Harrison Award for international achievements in science fiction. Biography Jeschke was born in 1936 in Dě ...

has won the award 19 times in four different categories, while

Andreas Eschbach Andreas Eschbach (born 15 September 1959, in Ulm) is a German writer, primarily of science fiction. His stories that are not clearly in the SF genre usually feature elements of the fantastic. Biography Eschbach studied aerospace engineering ...

has won the prize 11 times in two different categories. The foreign-language category includes novels, stories, collections and non-fiction. Iain Banks and China Miéville won the foreign-language prize four times. Other authors to win multiple times are

Hans Joachim Alpers Hans Joachim Alpers (14 July 1943 – 16 February 2011) was a German writer and editor of science fiction and fantasy. Together with Werner Fuchs and Ulrich Kiesow he founded Fantasy Productions, which became one of the premier German RPG- and boa ...

Carl Amery Carl Amery (9 April 1922 – 24 May 2005), the pen name of Christian Anton Mayer, was a German writer and environmental activist. Born in Munich, he studied at the University of Munich. He was a participant of Gruppe 47. He died in Munich. Amery w ...

Herbert W. Franke Herbert W. Franke (14 May 1927 – 16 July 2022) was an Austrian scientist and writer. ''Die Zeit'' calls him "the most prominent German writing Science Fiction author". He is also one of the important early computer artists (and collectors), cr ...

, Ian McDonald,

Michael Marrak Michael Marrak (born 1965 in Weikersheim, Baden-Württemberg) is a German science fiction and horror writer. He is also an illustrator and from 1993 to 1996 he edited the magazine ''Zimmerit''. His first novel ''Stadt der Klage'' was published by t ...

, and Connie Willis.

Award winners

German-language Novel

This category includes German-language works with a length of at least 100 pages by German-language authors which were published in German on a German-language market professionally for the first time in the award year. *1981: Georg Zauner, ''Die Enkel der Raketenbauer '' *1982:

, ''

The Last Day of Creation ''The Last Day of Creation'' (in original german: Der letzte Tag der Schöpfung) is a science fiction novel by German writer Wolfgang Jeschke, first published in 1981. The English translation by Gertrud Mander was published in 1982 by Century in ...

'' *1983: Richard Hey, ''Im Jahr 95 nach Hiroshima'' *1984: Thomas R. P. Mielke, ''Das Sakriversum'' *1985:

, ''Die Kälte des Weltraums'' *1986:

, ''Endzeit'' *1987:

, ''Die Wallfahrer'' *1988: Gudrun Pausewang, ''

Die Wolke ''Die Wolke'' () is a German novel for young adults by German author Gudrun Pausewang, published in 1987. The story was written after the 1986 Chernobyl nuclear disaster in Ukraine, with a 14-year-old girl having to deal with the consequences o ...

'' *1989: Norbert Stöbe, ''New York ist himmlisch'' *1990:

, ''Midas'' *1991:

, ''Das Geheimnis der Krypta'' *1992: Christian Mähr, ''Fatous Staub'' *1993: Herbert Rosendorfer, ''Die goldenen Heiligen oder Columbus entdeckt Europa'' *1994: Thomas Ziegler, ''Die Stimmen der Nacht'' *1995:

, ''Das zerrissene Land'' *1996:

, ''Die graue Eminenz'' *1997:

, ''Solarstation'' *1998: No Award *1999:

, ''

Jesus Video ''Jesus Video'' is a 1998 novel by German writer Andreas Eschbach. Its plot revolves around the search for a hidden video camera that is believed to hold digital footage of Jesus made by a time traveller. The book had very limited success as a ha ...

'' *2000:

, ''Kelwitts Stern'' *2001:

, ''Lord Gamma'' *2002:

, ''Quest'' *2003:

, ''Imagon'' *2004:

, ''Der Letzte seiner Art'' *2005:

Frank Schätzing Frank Schätzing (; born 28 May 1957) is a German writer, mostly known for his best-selling science fiction novel '' The Swarm'' ( 2004). Life Schätzing was born in Cologne and studied communication studies; he later ran his own company, a ...

, '' The Swarm'' *2006:

, ''Das Cusanus-Spiel'' *2007:

, ''Auf der Spur des Engels'' *2008:

, ''Ausgebrannt'' *2009: Dietmar Dath, ''Die Abschaffung der Arten'' *2010:

, ''Ein König für Deutschland'' *2011: , ''Walpar Tonnraffir und der Zeigefinger Gottes'' *2012:

, ''Herr aller Dinge'' *2013: Dietmar Dath, ''Pulsarnacht'' *2014:

, ''Dschiheads'' *2015: , ''Drohnenland'' *2016:

Andreas Brandhorst Andreas Brandhorst (born in Sielhorst, Rahden, Germany on 26 May 1956) is a translator (English to German) and author of fantasy and science fiction Science fiction (sometimes shortened to Sci-Fi or SF) is a genre of speculative fiction wh ...

, ''Das Schiff'' *2017:

, ''Omni'' *2018:

, ''Der Kanon mechanischer Seelen'' *2019:

, ''NSA – Nationales Sicherheits-Amt'' *2020:

, ''Das größte Abenteuer'' *2021:

, ''Eines Menschen Flügel'' *2022: , ''Nanopark''

Foreign Work

This category includes foreign-language fiction and non-fiction which was published as a German translation for the first time in the award year. Until 1997, it was called ''Foreign Novel''. * 1984: Brian Aldiss, '' Helliconia Spring'' * 1985:

Philip K. Dick Philip Kindred Dick (December 16, 1928March 2, 1982), often referred to by his initials PKD, was an American science fiction writer. He wrote 44 novels and about 121 short stories, most of which appeared in science fiction magazines during his l ...

, '' VALIS'' * 1986: Daniel Keyes, ''

The Minds of Billy Milligan ''The Minds of Billy Milligan'' is a non-fiction novel portraying Billy Milligan, the first person in U.S. history acquitted of a major crime by pleading dissociative identity disorder. The novel was originally published in 1981, written by Hugo ...

'' * 1987:

Jerry Yulsman Jerry Yulsman (February 8, 1924 – August 6, 1999) was an American novelist and a photographer best known for his photographs of Jack Kerouac, notably the cover illustration on Joyce Johnson's memoir ''Minor Characters''. Yulsman's first cam ...

, '' Elleander Morning'' * 1988: Christopher Priest, ''

The Glamour ''The Glamour'' is the ninth and final album by the Comsat Angels, released in 1995 on RPM Records and on Caroline Records in the US. In 2007, Renascent reissued the album as a double CD with seven additional tracks. This was the Comsat Angel ...

'' * 1989: Orson Scott Card, ''

Speaker for the Dead ''Speaker for the Dead'' is a 1986 science fiction novel by American writer Orson Scott Card, an indirect sequel to the 1985 novel ''Ender's Game''. The book takes place around the year 5270, some 3,000 years after the events in ''Ender's Game' ...

'' * 1990: Lucius Shepard, '' Life During Wartime'' * 1991: Iain M. Banks, ''

The Bridge The Bridge may refer to: Art, entertainment and media Art * ''The Bridge'' (sculpture), a 1997 sculpture in Atlanta, Georgia, US * Die Brücke (''The Bridge''), a group of German expressionist artists * ''The Bridge'' (M. C. Escher), a lithograph ...

'' * 1992: Iain M. Banks, '' The Wasp Factory'' * 1993: Iain M. Banks, ''

Use of Weapons ''Use of Weapons'' is a science fiction novel by Scottish writer Iain M. Banks, first published in 1990. It is the third novel in the Culture series. The narrative takes the form of a biography of a man called Cheradenine Zakalwe, who was bor ...

'' * 1994: Connie Willis, '' Doomsday Book'' * 1995: Ian McDonald, '' Scissors Cut Paper Wrap Stone'' * 1996: Stephen Baxter, '' The Time Ships'' * 1997:

Kate Wilhelm Kate Wilhelm (June 8, 1928 – March 8, 2018) was an American author. She wrote novels and stories in the science fiction, mystery, and suspense genres, including the Hugo Award–winning ''Where Late the Sweet Birds Sang''. Wilhelm established ...

, '' Death Qualified: A Mystery of Chaos'' * 1998: Iain M. Banks, ''

Excession ''Excession'' is a 1996 science fiction novel by Scottish writer Iain M. Banks. It is the fifth in the Culture series, a series of ten science fiction novels which feature a utopian fictional interstellar society called the Culture. It con ...

'' * 1999: Ian McDonald, '' Sacrifice of Fools'' * 2000: Greg Egan, '' Distress'' * 2001: Mary Doria Russell, '' The Sparrow'' * 2002: Connie Willis, ''

To Say Nothing of the Dog ''To Say Nothing of the Dog'': ''or, How We Found the Bishop's Bird Stump at Last'' is a 1997 comic science fiction novel by Connie Willis. It used the same setting, including time-traveling historians, which Willis explored in '' Fire Watch'' ...

'' * 2003: China Miéville, ''

Perdido Street Station ''Perdido Street Station'' is a novel by British writer China Miéville, published in 2000 by Macmillan. Often described as weird fiction, it is set in a world where both magic and steampunk technology exist. It won the Arthur C. Clarke Award an ...

'' * 2004: Vernor Vinge, ''

A Deepness in the Sky ''A Deepness in the Sky'' is a science fiction novel by American writer Vernor Vinge. Published in 1999, the novel is a loose prequel (set twenty thousand years earlier) to his earlier novel ''A Fire Upon the Deep'' (1992). The title is coined by ...

'' * 2005: China Miéville, '' The Scar'' * 2006: China Miéville, ''

Iron Council ''Iron Council'' (2004) is a weird fantasy novel by the British writer China Miéville, his third set in the Bas-Lag universe, following ''Perdido Street Station'' (2000) and '' The Scar'' (2002). In addition to the steampunk influences share ...

'' * 2007: Robert Charles Wilson, ''

Spin Spin or spinning most often refers to: * Spinning (textiles), the creation of yarn or thread by twisting fibers together, traditionally by hand spinning * Spin, the rotation of an object around a central axis * Spin (propaganda), an intentionally b ...

'' * 2008: Sergey Lukyanenko, '' Spectrum'' * 2009: Charles Stross, '' Glasshouse'' * 2010: John Scalzi, ''

The Android's Dream ''The Android's Dream'' is a 2006 science fiction novel by American writer John Scalzi. The title is a reference to Philip K. Dick's ''Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?'' Synopsis The story covers the journey of ex-soldier and State Departm ...

'' * 2011: China Miéville, ''

The City & the City ''The City & the City'' is a novel by British author China Miéville that follows a wide-reaching murder investigation in two cities that occupy the same space simultaneously, combining weird fiction with the police procedural. It was written ...

'' * 2012: Paolo Bacigalupi, ''

The Windup Girl ''The Windup Girl'' is a biopunk science fiction novel by American writer Paolo Bacigalupi. It was his debut novel and was published by Night Shade Books on September 1, 2009. The novel is set in a future Thailand and covers a number of contempo ...

'' * 2013: Ted Chiang,

Hell Is the Absence of God "Hell Is the Absence of God" is a 2001 fantasy novelette by American writer Ted Chiang, first published in , and subsequently reprinted in ''Year's Best Fantasy 2'', and in ''Fantasy: The Best of 2001'', as well as in Chiang's 2002 anthology, ' ...

* 2014: Jo Walton, '' Among Others'' * 2015:

Ursula K. Le Guin Ursula Kroeber Le Guin (; October 21, 1929 – January 22, 2018) was an American author best known for her works of speculative fiction, including science fiction works set in her Hainish universe, and the '' Earthsea'' fantasy series. She was ...

, '' Paradises Lost'' * 2016:

Neal Stephenson Neal Town Stephenson (born October 31, 1959) is an American writer known for his works of speculative fiction. His novels have been categorized as science fiction, historical fiction, cyberpunk, postcyberpunk, and baroque. Stephenson's work exp ...

, '' Seveneves'' * 2017:

Cixin Liu Liu Cixin (, pronounced ; born 23 June 1963) is a Chinese science fiction writer. He is a nine-time winner of China's Galaxy Award and has also received the 2015 Hugo Award for his novel '' The Three-Body Problem'' as well as the 2017 ...

, '' The Three Body Problem'' * 2018: Nnedi Okorafor, '' The Book of Phoenix'' * 2019: Jasper Fforde, ''

Early Riser ''Early Riser'' is the debut studio album by American musician Taylor McFerrin. It was released on June 2, 2014 through Brainfeeder. Produced by McFerrin himself, it features contributions from Bobby McFerrin, César Camargo Mariano, Emily King, ...

'' * 2020:

Margaret Atwood Margaret Eleanor Atwood (born November 18, 1939) is a Canadian poet, novelist, literary critic, essayist, teacher, environmental activist, and inventor. Since 1961, she has published 18 books of poetry, 18 novels, 11 books of non-fiction, nin ...

, '' The Testaments'' * 2021: Simon Stålenhag, ''

Tales from the Loop ''Tales from the Loop'' is an American science fiction drama television series developed and written by Nathaniel Halpern based on the art book of the same name by Swedish artist Simon Stålenhag. The eight-episode first season was released in ...

'' * 2022: Kim Stanley Robinson, ''

The Ministry for the Future ''The Ministry for the Future'' is a climate fiction ("cli-fi") novel by American science fiction writer Kim Stanley Robinson published in 2020. Set in the near future, the novel follows a subsidiary body, established under the Paris Agreement, ...

German-language Short Fiction (since 1997)

This category includes German-language works with a length of less than 100 pages by German-language authors which were published in German on a German-language market professionally for the first time in the award year, i.e. it includes short stories and novelettes/novellas combined in one award category. From 1997–2007 it was called ''German-language Short Story'' (though it also included novelettes/novellas already). From 1981–1996 this category was split into two separate award categories for ''Novellette/Novella'' and ''Short Story''. * 1997:

, ''Partner fürs Leben'' * 1998: Malte S. Sembten, ''Blind Date'' * 1999: Marcus Hammerschmitt, ''Wüstenlack'' * 2000: Wolfgang Jeschke, ''Die Cusanische Acceleratio'' * 2001: Marcus Hammerschmitt, ''Troubadoure'' * 2002: Wolfgang Jeschke, ''Allah akbar And So Smart Our NLWs'' * 2003:

Erik Simon Erik Simon (born 21 August 1987 in Karl-Marx-Stadt) is a German ski jumper. He came in on 30th place in Kuopio 2009 as his best result in the World Cup A world cup is a global sporting competition in which the participant entities – usually ...

, ''Spiel beendet, sagte der Sumpf'' * 2004:

Angela Steinmüller Angela Steinmüller (born 15 April 1941, in Schmalkalden) is a German mathematician and science fiction Science fiction (sometimes shortened to Sci-Fi or SF) is a genre of speculative fiction which typically deals with imaginative and f ...

and

Karlheinz Steinmüller Karlheinz Steinmüller (born 4 November 1950 in Klingenthal) is a German physicist and science fiction Science fiction (sometimes shortened to Sci-Fi or SF) is a genre of speculative fiction which typically deals with imaginative and f ...

, ''Vor der Zeitreise'' * 2005:

, ''Das Geschmeide'' * 2006: , ''An e-Star is born'' * 2007: Marcus Hammerschmitt, ''Canea Null'' * 2008: Michael K. Iwoleit, ''Der Moloch'' * 2009:

, ''Survival-Training'' and Heidrun Jänchen, ''Ein Geschäft wie jedes andere'' * 2010: Ernst-Eberhard Manski, ''Das Klassentreffen der Weserwinzer'' * 2011: Michael K. Iwoleit, ''Die Schwelle'' * 2012: Frank W. Haubold, ''Am Ende der Reise'' * 2013: Klaus N. Frick, ''Im Käfig'' * 2014:

, ''Coen Sloterdykes diametral levitierendes Chronoversum'' * 2015: Fabian Tomaschek, ''Boatpeople'' * 2016:

Karsten Kruschel Karsten Kruschel (born 1959 in Havelberg) is a German science fiction writer, essayist and critic, who lives near Leipzig. His best known works are the Deutscher Science Fiction Preis winning novels ''Vilm'' and ''Galdäa''. Some of his short stor ...

, ''Was geschieht dem Licht am Ende des Tunnels?'' * 2017: Gabriele Behrend, ''Suicide Rooms'' * 2018: Uwe Hermann, ''Das Internet der Dinge'' * 2019: Thorsten Küper, ''Confinement'' * 2020: Jacqueline Montemurri, ''Koloss aus dem Orbit'' * 2021:

and

, ''Marslandschaften'' * 2022: Aiki Mira, ''Utopie-27''

Radio drama

Although a prize has been awarded for a best work of radio drama since 1987, it is only since 1993 that a winner has been selected by a jury * 1993: Eva Maria Mudrich, ''Sommernachtstraum'' * 1994: not awarded * 1995: not awarded * 1996:

Wolfgang Rindfleisch Wolfgang is a German male given name traditionally popular in Germany, Austria and Switzerland. The name is a combination of the Old High German words ''wolf'', meaning "wolf", and ''gang'', meaning "path", "journey", "travel". Besides the regula ...

, ''Uhrwerk Orange'' (derivative of Anthony Burgess, 'A Clockwork Orange'). Director: Wolfgang Rindfleisch. Music: Trötsch * 1997: Friedrich Bestenreiner, 'Paradise Hospital Inc.'. Director: Thomas Werner * 1998: Karlheinz Knuth, ''Die Tage nebenan – or: Da, wo Cäsar nicht ermordet wurde''. Director: Thomas Werner * 1999: Heiko Michael Hartmann, ''MOI''. Director: Oliver Sturm * 2000: Marina Dietz, ''Träumen Androiden'' (derivative of

, 'Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep'). Regie: Marina Dietz * 2001: not awarded * 2002: Walter Adler, ''Tokio liebt uns nicht mehr'' (derivative of

Ray Loriga Jorge Loriga Torrenova, better known as Ray Loriga (born March 5, 1967), is a Spanish author, screenwriter, and director. His first novel ''Lo Peor de todo'' (''The Worst Thing of All''), was published in 1992, and was followed by ''Héroes'' i ...

, '). Director: Walter Adler * 2003: not awarded * 2004: not awarded * 2005:

Norbert Schaeffer Norbert is a Germanic given name, from ''nord'' "north" and ''berht'' "bright". Norbert is also occasionally found as a surname. People with the given name Academia * Norbert Angermann (born 1936), German historian * Norbert A’Campo (born 1941 ...

, ''Das letzte Geheimnis'' (derivative of

Bernard Werber Bernard Werber (born 1961 in Toulouse) is a French science fiction writer, active since the 1990s. He is chiefly recognized for having written the trilogy ''Les Fourmis'', the only one of his novels to have been published in English. This se ...

, '). Director: Norbert Schaeffer * 2006: Matthias Wittekindt, ''Das Lewskow-Manuscript''. Director:

Alexander Schuhmacher Alexander is a male given name. The most prominent bearer of the name is Alexander the Great, the king of the Ancient Greek kingdom of Macedonia who created one of the largest empires in ancient history. Variants listed here are Aleksandar, Al ...

. Music: Tim Frühwirth, Lömsch Le Mans, Frank Wingold * 2007: Matthias Scheliga, ''Amnesia''. Regie: Jürgen Dluzniewski * 2008: nicht vergeben * 2009: Bodo Traber & Tilman Zens, ''Die Flüsterer'', Director: Petra Feldhoff * 2010: not awarded * 2011: not awarded * 2012: Till Müller-Klug, ''Sprachlabor Babylon'', Director: Thomas Wolfertz, Musik:

Ekkehard Ehlers Ekkehard Ehlers (born 1974) is an artist working in the field of electronic music. In addition to his solo career, he has recorded under the monikers Auch, Betrieb and Ferdinand Fehlers and as a member of the duo Autopoesies and his band März. ...

* 2013:

Heinz von Cramer The H. J. Heinz Company is an American food processing company headquartered at One PPG Place in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The company was founded by Henry J. Heinz in 1869. Heinz manufactures thousands of food products in plants on six continen ...

, ''Unerwartete Ereignisse'', Director: Burkhard Schmid * 2014: not awarded * 2015: Walter Adler, ''Foxfinder'', Director: Walter Adler * 2016:

Georg Heinzen Georg may refer to: * ''Georg'' (film), 1997 *Georg (musical), Estonian musical * Georg (given name) * Georg (surname) * , a Kriegsmarine coastal tanker See also * George (disambiguation) George may refer to: People * George (given name) * G ...

, ''Sale'', Director:

Martin Zylka Martin may refer to: Places * Martin City (disambiguation) * Martin County (disambiguation) * Martin Township (disambiguation) Antarctica * Martin Peninsula, Marie Byrd Land * Port Martin, Adelie Land * Point Martin, South Orkney Islands Austral ...

* 2017: not awarded * 2018: Bodo Traber, ''Paradise Revisited'', Director: Bodo Traber * 2019: Anne Krüger, ''Supermarkt'', Director: Andrea Getto * 2020: Gerrit Booms, ''Unser Leben in den Wäldern'' (derivative of

Marie Darrieussecq Marie Darrieussecq (born 3 January 1969, Bayonne) is a French writer. She is also a translator, and has practised as a psychoanalyst. Her books explore the unspoken and abandoned territories in literature. Her work is dense, marked by a constant ...

, ') * 2021: Heinz Sommer, ''Der zweite Schlaf'' * 2022: Christian Wittmann and Georg Zeitblom, ''r_crusoe™''

Other categories

* Graphic Artist (1981–1992) * Graphic Artwork (since 1993) * Translator (1981–1992) * Translation (since 1993) * Movie (1987–1996) * Special Award for Extraordinary Accomplishments ** 2004:

Franz Rottensteiner Franz Rottensteiner (born 18 January 1942) is an Austrian publisher and critic in the fields of science fiction and speculative fiction in general. Biography Rottensteiner was born in Waidmannsfeld, Lower Austria. He studied journalism, Englis ...

, on the occasion of the hundredth number of the ''

Quarber Merkur ''Quarber Merkur'' is a German language literary magazine of speculative fiction (science fiction, fantasy, etc.). It is published in Austria since 1963 and edited by Franz Rottensteiner. The name of the magazine is derived from , a ravine part of ...

'' magazine he edited

References

External links

*
Kurd Laßwitz Award
at the Internet Speculative Fiction Database {{DEFAULTSORT:Kurd-Lasswitz-Preis German science fiction awards German literary awards Awards established in 1981