“Dietrich Bonhoeffer once said that cultural expression gives freedom the room to develop. He showed how culture reflects people’s yearning for freedom, particularly when they are oppressed.

It is precisely that which is made possible by writers, artists and musicians. They overcome social conventions to create a space in which to express their concepts of freedom.

I am very pleased that the Goethe Medals will be awarded to three prominent figures this year to acknowledge their outstanding services to freedom, democracy, human rights and the strength of civil society.

This year we will honour Irena Veisaitè, the Lithuanian author and survivor of the Holocaust, Bolat Atabayev, the theatre director from Kazakhstan, and Dzevad Karahasan, the writer from Bosnia.”