Speech at the presentation of the International Stefan Heym Prize on 18 April 2026

Dear Ladies and Gentlemen,
Dear Mr Andrukhovych,

Dear guests, 


I would like to welcome you to the award ceremony for the International Stefan Heym Prize of the City of Chemnitz. It is a great pleasure for me to welcome you here today - to an occasion that is more than just an award ceremony. It is an evening of literature. But it is also an evening of responsibility and commitment - and of European understanding.

And that is exactly what the name of this prize stands for.

For Stefan Heym, writing was never a retreat.

<p>Writing was participation.

Writing was resistance.

Writing was publicity.

This is why this prize is far more than just a literary award. It honours authors who do not see literature as a retreat from reality, but as a conscious form of interference in reality. And I say this word quite deliberately at this point - because we will encounter it more often this evening. Because it is a word that describes a great deal of what Stefan Heym stood for: taking a stand, not remaining silent, standing up when it matters.

This is exactly what the quote from Stefan Heym that you can read here is about: "When the time comes, you have to stick your head out to say something important."

This is not a sentence that only applies to writers. It's a sentence that concerns us all. And yes - also us in politics. Because democracy depends on people not just watching from the sidelines, but getting involved, taking a stand and being prepared to get involved and contribute.


[title], 

The fact that Stefan Heym is still relevant today is not just a literary statement. It is a political one.

Even Heym's earliest verses - published at the time under his birth name Helmut Flieg - were a warning call. As early as 1930, the young Heym wrote verses against war, against militarism, against the silencing of reason. These early texts seem frighteningly contemporary today. And perhaps that is precisely the point:

We must not be lulled into a false sense of security. As early as the 1950s, Stefan Heym warned us in his novel not to take freedom for granted. It was important to him to constantly guard and defend it,

because:

Freedom cannot be taken for granted.

<p>Peace cannot be taken for granted.

Europe cannot be taken for granted.

Democracy cannot be taken for granted.

And that is why Stefan Heym is not only worth reading today.

His view of the world, his astute observations, his admonishing words are necessary.

Necessary because Stefan Heym reminds us that critical thinking is not a "nice to have", but a civic duty. In other words, a duty of all of us, of each and every one of us.



[salutation],

The International Stefan Heym Prize is awarded by the City of Chemnitz, a city that has repositioned itself visibly in Europe in 2025. In year one after the European Capital of Culture, a lot of Europe remains in the city. That's how it should be. Because European Capital of Culture was never just a label for a calendar year. It was and is an attitude.

An attitude that says:

We want to be open.

We want to be contentious.

We want to be curious.

We want to exchange ideas.

And we also want to understand our history in a broader European context.


In a city like Chemnitz, which has itself experienced ruptures, upheavals, political attributions and re-localisations, this is particularly important.

Stefan Heym himself acknowledged his origins throughout his life.

He was a cosmopolitan citizen of the world.

He was a citizen of the world - and yet always remained a son of this city.

He is known for saying: "I am from Karl-Marx-Stadt and I am proud of it."


You could almost say that he was also ahead of his time in this respect.

After all, home is not just nostalgia.

Home is also a contradiction.

Home is friction.

Home is the place where and with which you engage because you care about something.

When a Chemnitz band sings today:

"I come from Karl-Marx-Stadt ...", then this is also a homage to origins, an invitation to engage with one's roots and a clear awareness that identity is never one-dimensional.


Maybe Stefan Heym would even have enjoyed it.

[Salutation], 

This year, the Board of Trustees has made a choice that could hardly be more topical. 

The International Stefan Heym Prize of the City of Chemnitz will honour the Ukrainian writer, poet, essayist and translator Yuri Andrukhovych in 2026. 

The Board of Trustees highlights him as one of the most important literary and intellectual voices in Ukraine. In particular, the socio-critical power of his work, his humour as a means against dictatorship and his role in public debates are honoured.

With literary power and moral clarity, he tirelessly defends European values: freedom, dignity and cultural diversity. His essays and novels are far more than just entertaining reading - they are bridges between East and West, between past and present. In times of division, he reminds us that Europe is not just a place, but a shared idea. 

Yuri Andrukhovych is not just a great European author being honoured today. It honours a writer who is not content with the role of mere observer - just like Stefan Heym.

<p>He is a voice of his country.

A voice of Europe.

Both Heym and Andrukhovych see literature as social intervention. I know that you particularly appreciate this word - interference - Mr Andrukhovych. And I think it's a wonderful word.

Mixing in means bringing new components into the - allow me to use the phrase - "uniformity". Fresh thoughts, new ideas, different approaches - all this adds flavour, whets our appetite, shakes us up and shows us unimagined perspectives.

Because meddling is the opposite of indifference.

Involvement means not standing on the sidelines.

Not saying: "That's none of my business."

Not waiting for others to take responsibility.

The fact that a Ukrainian writer is receiving this award today is not only logical in literary terms.

It is also a sign.

Because the questions that concern us as Europeans have not become smaller.

The war that Russia is waging against Ukraine is not just an attack on a country. It is an attack on freedom, on self-determination, on the European promise of peace.


And that is why Ukraine is not "out there somewhere" for us.

It affects us here.

In Chemnitz.

In Saxony.

In Germany.

In Europe.


[title], 

The fact that this award ceremony is also being held in conjunction with the opening of the Days of Jewish Culture lends this evening an additional depth.

This also reveals an important trace in Stefan Heym's life: his Jewish origins and his experience of marginalisation, persecution and exile. This is a part of his biography that is not only historical, but remains socially relevant to this day.


[salutation], 

Stefan Heym showed attitude throughout his life.

He has intervened.

He contradicted the powerful.

And yes - he also took pleasure in showing them up.

Perhaps that is exactly the right way to remember him.


In this spirit, I would like to thank everyone who has made this award possible.

To the Board of Trustees.

<p>The partners from culture and urban society.

And to all those who contribute to Chemnitz remaining a place where literature, debate and responsibility belong together.


Dear Mr Andrukhovych,

Welcome to Chemnitz.

Your words, Mr Andrukhovych, invite dialogue, contradict indifference and strengthen our hope for a common, peaceful coexistence.


Congratulations on the International Stefan Heym Prize of the City of Chemnitz in 2026.

Thank you very much.

(The spoken word prevails.)