March 2001 - Nr. 3
Aachen to Present Karlspreis to Author Gyoergy Konrad
TWIG - This year’s Karlspreis of the city of Aachen will be awarded to Gyoergy Konrad, president of Berlin and Brandenburg’s Academy of Arts. Aachen Mayor Juergen Linden and Walter Eversheim of the Karlspreis committee traveled to Berlin Monday (February 12) to present Konrad with a formal invitation to the award ceremony on May 24.
The Hungarian writer and democratic activist was selected as a public figure whose political engagement reflects the tradition of the European Enlightenment. "Konrad is a moral example that speaks well for Europe," Linden said in announcing the committee’s choice.
Konrad called his designation for the prize a tribute to the literature and democratic movements of central and eastern Europe. "I was one of those people who refused to separate public and private roles," he said. "Our life was saved in that our dream became reality."
A native of Debrecen, Konrad took part in the revolt against Hungary’s communist government in 1956. As a sociologist at the Budapest Institute for City Planning, he conducted studies of social issues associated with contemporary housing projects but found that his publications were often curtailed by government censors. In 1969 he published his first novel, The Visitor, to widespread acclaim. After the publication his essay "The Intellectuals on the Road to Class Power," he was arrested and briefly imprisoned, and for many years he was unable to publish his work in Hungary. Konrad now lives in Berlin and has been president of the Academy of Arts there since 1997. His recent books in English translation include Stonedial and The Melancholy of Rebirth: Essays from Post-Communist Central Europe 1989-1994.
The city of Aachen has awarded the Karlspreis - named for native son Charlemagene (Karl der Große) - annually since 1950 to individuals who have made notable contributions to European integration. Last year’s recipient was President Bill Clinton of the United States.
