How did it happen that of the 118 bookstores that were selected by the responsible jury for the German Bookstore Prize of 2026, only 115 received the prize? To be more precise: Why did Wolfram Weimer, the Federal Government Commissioner for Culture and Media (BKM), remove the three bookstores “Zur swaying Globe” (Berlin), “Golden Shop” (Bremen) and “Rote Straße” (Göttingen) from the list of prize winners? And even more precisely: What prompted Weimer's authority to request information from the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution in the so-called Haber proceedings about these three bookstores? In an interview with “Zeit”, published in its March 19 edition, the Minister of State for Culture gave a clear answer: “Our specialist officials, who are very familiar with the bookstore scene, had fundamental doubts about the price worthiness in three cases.”
On April 30, the Berlin Administrative Court prohibited Weimer from publicly describing the booksellers he treated as unworthy of awards as “political extremists.” He did not appeal against the decision, although alleged extremism remained the only key word that Weimer gave the public to justify his actions, which were unanimously criticized by the entire German literary world. On the main legal question of the legality of this action, court decisions on the lawsuits filed by bookstores are pending. Meanwhile, journalist Jonas Mueller-Töwe has applied for access to files under the Freedom of Information Act and has now reported on the results of his request on the news portal T-Online.
In the files of the commissioner's office, there are no doubts on the part of the specialist officials about the value of the bookstores in Berlin, Bremen and Göttingen. The opposite is the case: In a submission to the house management in October 2025, the responsible department recommended that all 118 companies selected by the jury from around 500 applicants be awarded the prize. “It is recommended to follow the jury’s vote.” Because: “All recommended bookstores meet the eligibility requirements for an award.”
During the controversy, Weimer's spokespersons pointed out that the jury's vote was not binding on the commissioner and that he did not just hand out the prizes (which was not done this year because of the scandal), but also awarded them. The files now show that the jury's recommendations were passed on upwards by the officials with their own recommendations. Each proposed bookstore is briefly characterized in the template for the management. According to the Bremen gold shop: "According to the bookstore's website, the range includes, among other things, 'books on left-wing politics, youth subcultures, music'. In addition, in the 'Links' section there are, among other things, links to Antifa in Bremen." According to the bookstore's website, the range of red street vendors in Göttingen is also discussed: "There are books on feminism and queerness, left-wing theory and its discussion, social movements, National Socialism and its reception, Marxist theory, critical theory, anti-racism and migration." According to Mueller-Töwe, the only thing that is mentioned about the “Swaying Globe” is that it has an obvious political orientation.
Only the links to Antifa appear to affect the area of interest of the Office for the Protection of the Constitution, although according to the information sheet from former State Secretary Emily Haber from 2017, the Haber procedure should be limited to organizations “whose harmlessness is not apparent from the respective context”. For Weimer's specialist officials, the links to Antifa in the Bremen context were harmless; the facade with golden words of left-wing criticism of the state, which has been often photographed since March, is not even mentioned. Special knowledge of the bookstore scene did not have to be activated to write the short portraits. Providing proof that the conditions for payment of prize money, which is intended as a subsidy to be distributed broadly and pluralistically, were met in 118 cases was a bureaucratic routine. In any case, an obviously left-wing political orientation was no reason for the scene experts in the specialist department to recommend a special examination to the house management.
Mueller-Töwe was denied access to later files that would have to document the Haber proceedings, which were only initiated in January 2026, citing secrecy. When and in what form did specialist officials articulate the fundamental doubts that Weimer referred to in Die Zeit if they were not reflected in the file implementing the jury's vote? Are these officials actually experts from the relevant department, or are book lovers from other departments possibly getting involved? A request from the F.A.Z. The BKM press office received no response by the editorial deadline for Friday's edition.
On March 6, 2026, Weimer's then chief spokesman for the F.A.Z. informed that there had been “random samples” when reviewing the jury list. The Office for the Protection of the Constitution was called in based on “concrete evidence and information”. It remains unknown who the clues came from.
Wolfram Weimer's cavalier approach to the truth is one of the most unpleasant aspects of this cultural state affair. The bookstores that were sorted out initially received the untruthful notice that they had not been selected by the jury. In the “Zeit” interview, Weimer suggested that the correct procedure was followed and that the expertise of his officials was taken into account. Who is responsible for what at the BKM is revealed in the public organizational chart right down to the department management level and is known beyond this level to those who have to deal with the authority in everyday life. It appears that Weimer has blamed his own officials for doubts about the constitutional loyalty of business people, for whom no evidence or anything resembling evidence has been presented in seven months.
