German Non-Fiction Prize 2022
Stephan Malinowski wins this year's German Non-Fiction Prize with The Hohenzollern and the Nazis (Die Hohenzollern und die Nazis, Ullstein)!
For over 100 years, the heads of the Hohenzollern family have worked repeatedly with lawyers, journalists and PR consultants to burnish the family’s public image. Stephan Malinowski analyses these curated self-presentations in a historical narrative that spans three generations, up to the present day.
From the jury's statement: “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.”
Italian rights to The Hohenzollern and the Nazis are still free.
Information about the shortlisted authors and books can be found here.
