Berlin, Bremen, Göttingen, March 5, 2026
The German Bookstore Prize is awarded annually to over one hundred bookstores. A jury of experts from the book industry, which changes each year, decides which bookstore receives the prize after reviewing the application materials. The approval of the shortlist by the Federal Government Commissioner for Culture and the Media (BKM) has traditionally been a mere formality. However, as the Süddeutsche Zeitung reported on March 3, 2026, this year the BKM removed three of the nominated bookstores from the list, citing "information concerning the protection of the constitution" about them. With this so-called Haber procedure, the BKM interfered in the decision of an independent jury without providing any sound justification.
The three left-wing bookstores affected by this intervention – Golden Shop (Bremen), Rote Straße (Göttingen), and Zur schwankenden Weltkugel (Berlin) – are now taking legal action against their removal from the price list. With the support of lawyers Lea Voigt (Bremen), Sven Adam (Göttingen), Dr. Jasper Prigge and Sophie Hartmann (Düsseldorf), and with the assistance of the counter-legal protection organization FragDenStaat and the Society for Civil Rights (GFF), the bookstores are also defending themselves against the so-called Haber procedure, which is questionable from a rule-of-law perspective, and the covert influence exerted by the Office for the Protection of the Constitution.
“The three bookstores were selected for the prize by an expert jury because they offer a literary selection, a cultural events program, or are actively involved in promoting reading and literature. They deserve the prize, and we are therefore preparing lawsuits against the Federal Government Commissioner for Culture and the Media to force the awarding of the prize as the jury intended,” the bookstores’ lawyers stated, outlining the objective of the upcoming legal proceedings. “Furthermore, there is a fundamental right to know exactly who exerted this unprecedented influence on the awarding of the prize, when, and why. Therefore, proceedings will also be initiated to obtain complete information about the processes and the allegedly available information under the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and the Federal Law on the Protection of the Constitution (BVerfSchG). The so-called Haber procedure will also be reviewed in court,” the lawyers continued. The lawsuits will be filed at the beginning of next week.
For press inquiries:
Attorney Sven Adam (Göttingen) – +49 (0) 551 488 31 69 – kontakt@anwaltskanzlei-adam.de
Attorney Dr. Jasper Prigge (Düsseldorf) – +49 (0) 211 4174 89 90 – kontakt@prigge-recht.de
Attorney Lea Voigt (Bremen) – +49 (0) 421 335 16 78 – voigt@strafdefender-bremen.de
For the bookstores: Buchladen Rote Straße (Göttingen), The Golden Shop (Bremen), Zur schwankenden Weltkugel (Berlin)
