Reading tip Annalise Wagner Prize: Award-winning texts from the Annalise Wagner Foundation tell the story(s) of regional culture and contemporary history An exhibition in the Neubrandenburg Regional Library until October 25th
From September 5 to October 25, 2025, the "Annalise Wagner Prize Reading Tip" exhibition at the Neubrandenburg Regional Library will arouse curiosity about special publications of fiction, non-fiction or children's and youth literature. They all have two special features in common: all the titles tell the cultural and contemporary history(ies) of the "Mecklenburg-Strelitz" region around Neubrandenburg and Neustrelitz in the Mecklenburg Lake District in the federal state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern. And secondly, all the titles are Annalise Wagner Prize-winning texts and are of particular quality in terms of both content and language.
There are more than 30 surprisingly "versatile" and "multi-colored" publications to discover: from fiction to non-fiction to children's literature, from topics such as "Culture & History(ies)", "Life & History(ies)", "Country Life & History(ies)" to the culture of remembrance or literary exploration of the region. Just a small, current example of this: This year, the 34th Annalise Wagner Prize went to Dr. Friederike Werner from Heidelberg for her study "Das 'ägyptische' Geheimnis oder: Die verhüllten Tempel von Hohenzieritz und Berlin 1795/1850". Anyone who reads it with curiosity will quickly become fascinated: It is about a cultural-historical search for traces in Hohenzieritz Castle between Neubrandenburg and Neustrelitz that is as astonishing as it is innovative and exciting to read - for the first time from an Egyptological (!) perspective.
The reading tips for the Annalise Wagner Prize are an inspiring way to reflect on our "where from and where to" from a "regional perspective" on the 35th anniversary of the state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern. They are a colorful mosaic of "good examples" of how texts help to preserve and pass on data and facts, thoughts and feelings, images of the world, history or the future, to enable communication, reflection and research, to think about home and identity. In this sense, the small exhibition also aims to raise awareness of the special value and sustainability of the contribution of texts and authors to social communication, a democratic culture of remembrance and collective memory. And last but not least, it would like to use the Annalise Wagner Prize as an example to draw attention to the many ways in which voluntary democratic foundation commitment supports a cultural atmosphere that values and promotes writing and publishing in and about the Mecklenburg-Strelitz region in the Mecklenburg Lake District.
The 35th anniversary of the federal state is a wonderful occasion for this, as the founding of the federal state was a basis for the Annalise Wagner Foundation and Annalise Wagner Prize to be brought to life with civic commitment - and to continue to "do good" with civic commitment to this day. The Annalise Wagner Foundation is a legacy of the local historian, archivist and author Annalise Wagner (1903-1986) from Neustrelitz. Annalise Wagner was committed to the "historical memory" of her home region, founded an archive, initiated the museum, published a series of publications on regional history - and would have liked to have established a regional literature prize. This was not possible under GDR law. In 1986, however, she left the idea to her heir, the Neubrandenburg library, in her will. When new laws came into force in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern 35 years ago with the creation of the East German states, Annalise Wagner's idea became a reality: in 1991, the city of Neubrandenburg established the "Annalise Wagner Foundation" as a trust foundation with the purpose of the "Annalise Wagner Prize". This was the first new cultural foundation in the federal state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern and the small foundation is one of the earliest new foundations to be set up in East Germany after 1990.
The "Annalise Wagner Prize reading tip" sets interesting accents when it comes to topics such as in September and October 2025: "Kulturherbst Mecklenburg Lake District" (6. - 21. 9.), "Civic Engagement Week" (12. -21.9.), "Days of Political Education in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern" (15. 9.-3.10.), "International Day of Democracy" (15.9.), "Europe-wide Day of Foundations" (1. 10.) and, of course, on "Libraries Day" (24.10.), as Neubrandenburg Regional Library is one of the few public libraries in Germany with a foundation office.
The "Annalise Wagner Prize Reading Tip" exhibition can be found in the exhibition area of the Neubrandenburg Regional Library (Marktplatz 1) from September 5 to October 25, 2025. All curious visitors are welcome during opening hours! Of course, the regional library also has all the prize-winning texts available to borrow from its lending service and the regional literature collection. And the Annalise Wagner Foundation website provides online information about each prize-winning title at all times.
