On October 4, 2020, author Günter de Bruyn passed away at the age of 93. He was a master storyteller in the tradition of realism. Since many of his novels were set in Brandenburg and Berlin and he was the editor of the “Märkischer Dichtergarten”, which garnered him the honorific title of “the (Theodor) Fontane of the 20th century”. In 1999, his work “Altersbetrachtungen über den alten Fontane” was published. He also authored essays on literary and political topics, as well as biographies about Jean Paul, Queen Luise of Prussia, Zacharias Werner and Schmidt von Werneuchen.  In 2006, he was awarded the Jacob Grimm Award for the German Language in honor of his tremendous linguistic and stylistic merits. On October 21, 2006, Wolfgang Thierse lauded him in Kassel at the award ceremony as follows:

“Günter de Bruyn’s contribution to the cultivation and promotion of the German language cannot be overstated. He has rendered outstanding services to the vitality of the German language in the spirit of Jacob Grimm – not only through his own works, but also through his writing about other great authors of the 19th century – as well as his wonderful, friendly books about Brandenburg, its stories, its landscapes”.

The jury for the German Language Culture Award mourns the death of a great master of the German language. We will always cherish his memory and his literary heritage.

Helmut Glück, Speaker of the Jury for the German Language Culture Award (Kulturpreis Deutsche Sprache)