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Over 600 entries, a multi-stage selection process and a jury with an eye for the extraordinary: The Stiftung Buchkunst has selected the 25 most beautiful German books of 2025. The books impress with their design quality, conceptual strength, and precision craftsmanship.

The Stiftung Buchkunst honoured 25 books as the best designed of the year, selecting them from almost 600 submissions | *Photos: Uwe Dettmar*, *© Stiftung Buchkunst*

Spanning five categories — from general literature and children’s books to academic works and exhibition catalogues — the award-winning books reflect the diversity and innovative strength of German publishing. The Stiftung Buchkunst jury of 14 experts selected the best titles from over 600 submissions in a multi-stage process, narrowing it down from a shortlist of 187 books. The range of content and form is remarkable, with award-winning works impressing with a high degree of creative sensitivity and technical precision, from poetically staged essays to complex architectural documentaries.

A Space for Resonance

‘A beautiful book is more than just its material, font, colour and content; it is a space that opens up and creates resonance,‘ says Chrish Knigge, a jury member from Studio Grau. This sentiment is evident throughout the selection of this year’s winners. The award-winning titles include ‘Der Konjunktiv der Bilder‘ by Alexander Kluge, designed by Wolfgang Schwärzler (Spector Books); and ‘Transcalar Prospects in Climate Crisis‘, edited by Jeffrey Huang et al. and designed by Hubertus Design (Lars Müller Publishers). Children’s books such as ‘Was ist arm und was ist reich?‘ (Beltz & Gelberg) and ‘Hört mal!’ (kunstanstifter) also demonstrate how complex content can be presented sensitively.

Sponsorship Prize for Young Book Design

In addition to the main awards, three titles were honoured with the ‘Sponsorship Prize for Young Book Design’ for their particularly bold conceptual and formal approaches. The award-winning projects, ‘All the Games We Could Have Played‘, ‘Anti-Environments‘ and ‘The Forgotten Stories of the ‘Boat Driver’‘, will be exhibited at einBuch.haus in Berlin from 17 July to 16 August 2025.

Prize of the Stiftung Buchkunst

The highlight will be on 5 September, when the Stiftung Buchkunst will present the main prize of €10,000 to one of the 25 books at the Museum Angewandte Kunst in Frankfurt. Over the coming months, all the award-winning titles will be on display at trade fairs, libraries and the Literaturhaus Frankfurt.