Minister of State for Culture Weimer comments on the controversy over bookstore prices

In view of a new controversy surrounding the exclusion of three bookstores from the German Bookstore Prize, Minister of State for Culture Wolfram Weimer has provided insights into the processes surrounding the decision for the first time. The presentation in parts of the reporting on the awarding of the award does not correspond to the actual events, said a spokesman. He rejected allegations that Weimer had ignored a recommendation from the responsible department. This has no basis.

Weimer had removed the left-wing bookstores Zur swaying Weltkugel in Berlin, The Golden Shop in Bremen and Rote Straße in Göttingen from the list of prize winners in March because of "findings relevant to the protection of the constitution." After continued criticism of the decision, the awards ceremony was canceled and the awards were presented without a ceremony. The allegations against the bookstores were never made public.

A recent report from the T-Online platform raised new questions about the procedure in the house of the Federal Government Commissioner for Culture and Media (BKM): The news portal quoted documents according to which Weimer's responsible department had expressly recommended following the vote of the independent jury and awarding all proposed bookstores. After the Greens and the Left in the Bundestag's Culture Committee demanded clarification from the Minister of State for Culture, von Weimer, his spokesman now published a chronology.

The line template is said not to have reached Weimer

According to this representation, in a management template dated October 10, 2025, there was actually a recommendation from the specialist department to follow the jury vote. But the spokesman said: “This proposal reached State Minister Dr. Not Wolfram Weimer." Rather, "information from publicly available sources emerged shortly afterwards at the BKM specialist level." At the end of October 2025, these would have led to a Haber procedure - i.e. a query to the Office for the Protection of the Constitution - about two bookstores.

In the second half of November, the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution informed the responsible BKM department that there was “information relevant to the protection of the Constitution” in both cases. Weimer's spokesman continued that these were explained in response to a verbal request. It was not previously known that such a verbal explanation existed.

In an interview with ZEIT in March, Weimer said that "our specialist officials, who are very familiar with the bookstore scene," had "fundamental doubts about the price worthiness" in three cases. That's why the Office for the Protection of the Constitution was asked. When asked what exactly was happening, Weimer said: "The Office for the Protection of the Constitution is not allowed to tell us that in detail."