At a time when press freedom is under pressure and international newsrooms are shrinking, the Werner Holzer Prize celebrates a profession that many consider indispensable to democracy: foreign correspondence.
Presented in honor of Werner Holzer, the veteran reporter and former editor-in-chief of the German daily newspaper Frankfurter Rundschau, this year's award coincided with what would have been his 100th birthday. Holzer spent decades reporting from some of the world's most important hot spots and championing international journalism.
At the award ceremony in Frankfurt's Römer, the city's historic town hall, Mayor Mike Josef recalled that fundamental rights such as freedom of speech and freedom of the press were first enshrined for all Germans by the Frankfurt Parliament in the nearby Paulskirche in 1848.
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The 2026 winners reflect the breadth and ambition of the award. First prize went to Katja Gloger, a veteran Russia correspondent who moved to Moscow in 1989 and accompanied Vladimir Putin during the early years of his presidency.
In her recent nonfiction book, "The Failure: An Investigative Report of Germany's Russia Policy," Gloger and co-author Georg Mascolo offer a searing critique of the misjudgments and illusions that shaped German policy toward Russia for decades.
