Berlin (dpa) – This year’s German National Prize has been awarded to Anselm Kiefer, one of the most significant contemporary artists. The 78-year-old painter and sculptor, who has lived in France since 1992, received the award at the Deutsche Nationalstiftung in Berlin.
Speaking at the awards ceremony, Federal Chancellor Scholz praised Kiefer for his “outstanding services to the reappraisal of German history which set him apart from almost all other artists.” Scholz noted how in France and other countries, the artist was an important ambassador for a historically aware and modern Germany. He described Kiefer’s art as “bringing to the surface what had been buried in our German and European history.”
In Kiefer’s view, the border today between France and Germany has effectively been lifted. “In any case, I feel at home in both countries,” he said in his words of thanks after receiving the award.
The Deutsche Nationalstiftung was set up in 1993 by a group close to the former Federal Chancellor Helmut Schmidt. Since 1997, it has awarded the National Prize to those it describes as making a contribution to German cohesion and to maintaining its relations with its European neighbours.