Today, Sunday, 29 March, the writer Siegfried Lenz receives this year’s Lew Kopelew Prize for Peace and Human Rights. Federal Foreign Minister Dr. Frank-Walter Steinmeier conveyed his congratulations on this event:

“I offer you my warmest congratulations on this award – a further addition to the impressive series of literary honours you have received. For more than fifty years, you have helped shape this country’s literary scene as one of the most important writers of our time.

Not only in your works but also through your actions, you have always been an advocate of rapprochement and conciliation between people of different nations and cultures.

I wish to express my sincere thanks for your commitment to promoting peaceful coexistence among the people of Europe, and in particular cultural exchange between Germany and Poland. Through your work, you have made an impressive contribution to goodwill and understanding between our two countries.”