Ulli Lust has been announced as the winner of the prestigious German Non-Fiction Prize 2025 for her thought-provoking work “Die Frau als Mensch. Am Anfang der Geschichte” (“Woman as Human. At the Dawn of History”) published by Reprodukt.
The announcement was made on Tuesday 17 June, 2025 by the Foundation for Book Culture and the Promotion of Reading of the German Publishers and Booksellers Association. A statement from the jury highlighted the power and importance of Lust’s work, stating that she “reveals how the role of women in human history has remained largely invisible” and that “a fundamental revision of the long-dominant image of ‘man as mankind’ is overdue.”
Lust’s book, which combines scholarly insights from archaeology, anthropology, and art history with everyday experiences, challenges long-held assumptions and expands the genre of non-fiction through its innovative use of images and text.
The members of the jury for the German Non-Fiction Prize 2025 include experts from various fields such as ETH Zurich, author Christiane Hoffmann, and science journalist Manuela Lenzen. They were tasked with selecting the winner from a list of impressive nominees, which included works such as “Digitaler Kolonialismus” by Ingo Dachwitz and Sven Hilbig, “Die Rückkehr des Krieges” by Franz-Stefan Gady, and “Sisyphos im Maschinenraum” by Martina Heßler.
The German Non-Fiction Prize is supported by the Deutsche Bank Foundation and backed by the City of Hamburg and Frankfurter Buchmesse. The cultural programme “aspekte” on ZDF and Deutschlandfunk Kultur are media partners of the prize.
A press photo of the winner will be available on the website of the German Publishers and Booksellers Association. For media inquiries, please contact Thomas Koch, Head of Press and Public Relations, or Robin Jung, Junior PR Manager.
The German Non-Fiction Prize continues to recognize outstanding original German-language non-fiction books that inspire social debate.
