Following the announcement of the award of this year’s Nobel Prize for Literature to Herta Müller, Federal Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier sent her the following letter of congratulation:

”You have endowed German literature and beyond literature our German language with an utterly original and new poetic force.

Whilst we extol your mastery of language, however, we also owe you a great debt of gratitude for having spoken out, and continuing to speak out, in your novels against misery and oppression, against terror and dictatorship. You personally had to endure suffering amid violence and the destruction of humanity, and yet in spite of this you have found the strength to encourage us through your literature to keep memories alive and accept our moral responsibility.

Moreover, as Foreign Minister I am especially delighted that the honour has been bestowed on you, a German author who stands for the close ties between Germany and Romania. Particularly in this year of commemoration marking the fall of the Berlin Wall, the award of the prize to you is also a symbol for the peaceful co-existence and the unity of the peoples of Europe.“