The Grimme-Preis ("Grimme Award"; prior to 2011: Adolf-Grimme-Preis) is one of the most prestigious German television awards. It is named after the first general director of

Nordwestdeutscher Rundfunk Nordwestdeutscher Rundfunk (NWDR; ''Northwest German Broadcasting'') was the organization responsible for public broadcasting in the German Länder of Hamburg, Lower Saxony, Schleswig-Holstein and North Rhine-Westphalia from 22 September 1945 to ...

Adolf Grimme Adolf Berthold Ludwig Grimme (31 December 1889 – 27 August 1963) was a German politician, a member of the Social Democratic Party (SPD). He was Cultural Minister during the later years of the Weimar Republic and after World War II, during the ...

.Adolf Grimme short biography
Fernsehmuseum Hamburg. Retrieved 28 January 2012 It has been referred to in ''Kino'' magazine as the "German TV Oscar". The awards ceremony takes place annually at Theater Marl in

Marl, North Rhine-Westphalia Marl () is a town and a municipality in the district of Recklinghausen, in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is situated near the Wesel-Datteln Canal, approx. 10 km north-west of Recklinghausen. It has about 90,000 people. Geography ...

, and is hosted by the Grimme-Institut. Since 1964, it awards productions "that use the specific possibilities of the medium of television in an extraordinary manner and at the same time can serve as examples regarding content and method". The award was endowed by the German Community College association. One of the first award winners was in 1964, for his TV movie ''Sonderurlaub'' ("Special Leave"), about a failed escape from the

German Democratic Republic German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) ** Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **G ...

Rainer Werner Fassbinder Rainer Werner Fassbinder (; 31 May 1945 – 10 June 1982), sometimes credited as R. W. Fassbinder, was a German filmmaker. He is widely regarded as one of the major figures and catalysts of the New German Cinema movement. Fassbinder's main ...

received an honorable mention in 1974 for his film ''

World on a Wire ''World on a Wire'' (german: Welt am Draht) is a 1973 German science fiction television serial, starring Klaus Löwitsch and directed by Rainer Werner Fassbinder. Shot in 16 mm, it was made for German television and originally aired in 1973 in ...

''. Since then, German veteran director

Dominik Graf Dominik Graf (born 6 September 1952) is a German film director. He studied film direction at University of Television and Film Munich, from where he graduated in 1975. While he has directed several theatrically released feature films since the 198 ...

has received 10 awards for his various films. Danish director

Lars von Trier Lars von Trier ('' né'' Trier; 30 April 1956) is a Danish filmmaker, actor, and lyricist. Having garnered a reputation as a highly ambitious, polarizing filmmaker, he has been the subject of several controversies: Cannes, in addition to nomina ...

was awarded a Grimme-Preis in 1996 for his miniseries '' The Kingdom''. Director Christian Petzold has been awarded the prize twice, for his films ''

Wolfsburg Wolfsburg (; Eastphalian: ''Wulfsborg'') is the fifth largest city in the German state of Lower Saxony, located on the river Aller. It lies about east of Hanover and west of Berlin. Wolfsburg is famous as the location of Volkswagen AG's he ...

'' and ''

Something to Remind Me Something to Remind Me (german: Toter Mann) is a 2001 German psychological thriller film directed by Christian Petzold. Cast and characters * Nina Hoss as Leyla * André Hennicke as Thomas Richter * Sven Pippig as Blum * Heinrich Schmieder as ...

''. In 2016, the series ''

Deutschland 83 ''Deutschland 83'' is a 2015 German television series starring Jonas Nay as a 24-year-old native of East Germany who, in 1983, is sent to West Germany as an undercover spy for the HVA, the foreign intelligence agency of the Stasi. It is a co ...

'' was one of the four recipients in the principal "fiction" category. The TV series ''Dark'' became in 2018 the first

Netflix Netflix, Inc. is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service and production company based in Los Gatos, California. Founded in 1997 by Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph in Scotts Valley, California, it offers a fi ...

series to receive the award. In addition to the Grimme Award, the Grimme Institute also awards the Grimme Online Award and the German Radio Award ( de).

Notable laureates

Fictional characters

In '' Look Who's Back'' by

Timur Vermes Timur Vermes (born 1967) is a German writer. Previously a ghostwriter, his first novel ''Er ist wieder da'', which has sold over a million copies in Germany, is a satire about Adolf Hitler and 21st-century Germany. The English version, '' Look W ...

, a novel in which Hitler awakens in the 21st century and becomes a comedian, the Grimme Prize is awarded to Hitler.

References

External links

Official website
{{Authority control German television awards