Banquet hall with guests at tables and an illuminated stage in the background.

Prize for Understanding and Tolerance

Every year since 2002, the Jewish Museum Berlin (JMB) and the Society of Friends and Supporters of the Jewish Museum Berlin Foundation have jointly awarded the Prize for Understanding and Tolerance.

This prize honors individuals in politics, business and culture who have made an exceptional contribution to understanding and tolerance, the promotion of human dignity, the integration of minorities and the coexistence of different religions and cultures.

The JMB publishes the current year’s prizewinner in the press section of its website.

The award ceremony traditionally takes place within the framework of a gala dinner, to which the museum welcomes numerous friends and supporters from politics, business, culture and media. Proceeds from the evening’s donations support the educational work of the museum.

Two cone shaped trophies in blue boxes. — Prize for Understanding and Tolerance; Jewish Museum Berlin, photo: Svea Pietschmann / David Ausserhofer

Award Winners

The following people have received the Prize for Understanding and Tolerance to date:

Year awarded	Award winner
2022	Herta Müller, writer and Nobel Prize winner Barrie Kosky, theatre and opera director
2021	Charlotte Knobloch, President of the Jewish Community of Munich and Upper Bavaria Daniel Libeskind, architect
2020	Madeleine K. Albright, former U.S. Secretary of State Igor Levit, pianist
2019	Heiko Maas, German Minister of Foreign Affairs Anselm Kiefer, artist
2018	Susanne Klatten, entrepreneur David Grossman, writer
2017	Joachim Gauck, former President of Germany Joe Kaeser, CEO of Siemens AG
2016	Renate Lasker-Harpprecht and Anita Lasker-Wallfisch, historical eyewitnesses Hasso Plattner, businessman
2015	W. Michael Blumenthal, Founding Director of the Jewish Museum Berlin
2014	Hubert Burda, publisher Wolfgang Schäuble, Federal Finance Minister
2013	Berthold Leibinger, associate of the TRUMPF Group Iris Berben, actor
2012	Klaus Mangold, Chairman of the Supervisory Board of Rothschild GmbH (Frankfurt and Moscow) Richard von Weizsäcker, former President of Germany
2011	Angela Merkel, Chancellor of Germany
2010	Jan Philipp Reemtsma, literature scholar Hubertus Erlen, business executive
2009	Franz Fehrenbach and Christof Bosch, both as representatives of the Bosch company Michael Verhoeven, film director
2008	Roland Berger, corporate consultant Imre Kertész, Nobel Laureate in Literature
2007	Helmut Kohl, former Chancellor of Germany Fritz Stern, historian
2006	Daniel Barenboim, General Music Director of the Berlin State Oper Helmut Panke, business executive
2005	Heinz Berggruen, art collector and patron Otto Graf Lambsdorff, former Federal Minister of Germany
2004	Michael Otto, businessman Johannes Rau, former President of Germany
2003	Otto Schily, former Interior Minister of Germany Friede Springer, publisher
2002	Berthold Beitz, former Chairman of the Curatorium of the Alfried Krupp von Bohlen and Halbach Foundation Heinrich von Pierer, former Chairman of the Siemens AG Board

“If you reject the status quo and work to build a better, more tolerant world, you can improve the world and ensure a better future.”
(Daniel Libeskind, award acceptance speech 2021)

Impressions of the 2022 Award Ceremony

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Prize winner Herta Müller, Director Hetty Berg, and prize winner Barrie Kosky (l.t.r.); Jewish Museum Berlin, photo: Pietschmann/Ausserhofer
Laudator Ernest Wichner, prize winner Herta Müller, director Hetty Berg, prize winner Barrie Kosky, laudator Julia Spinola. (l.t.r.); Jewish Museum Berlin, photo: Pietschmann/Ausserhofer
Director Hetty Berg presents the prize to Herta Müller; Jewish Museum Berlin, Photo: Pietschmann/Ausserhofer
Director Hetty Berg presents the award to Barrie Kosky; Jewish Museum Berlin, photo: Pietschmann/Ausserhofer
Barrie Kosky and Herta Müller on stage at the “Prize for Understanding and Tolerance”; Jewish Museum Berlin, Photo: Pietschmann/Ausserhofer