Pauli-Prize

Since 2024, the former Prize of the Böttcherstraße has been renamed Pauli-Prize, in honour of Gustav Pauli (1866–1938), the first director of the Kunsthalle Bremen. The Pauli-Prize (formerly Kunstpreis der Böttcherstraße / Prize of the Böttcherstraße) is one of the oldest and most renowned prizes in the field of contemporary art in Germany; it is awarded every two years in Bremen. This € 30,000 art prize, sponsored by the Donor’s Circle for the Pauli-Prize in the Kunstverein in Bremen, will be awarded for the fiftieth time in 2026.

The person behind the name

The name Pauli stands for progress and a bold collecting strategy; the renaming of the Prize of the Böttcherstraße as Pauli-Prize remains committed to this forward-looking attitude. Gustav Pauli owes the Kunsthalle Bremen’s collection works by, amongst others, Courbet, Manet, Monet, Rodin and Van Gogh – works that were highly controversial at the time. He promoted the idea of a modern museum and a democratic institution rooted in the contemporary world and open to all parts of society. The Pauli-Prize is entirely in the spirit of Gustav Pauli’s commitment to contemporary art.

The Donors’ Circle for the Pauli-Prize in the Kunstverein in Bremen and award process

The Pauli-Prize is financed solely by the Donors’ Circle for the Pauli-Prize, an association of members of the Kunstverein in Bremen, as well as the Senator of Culture and the Sparkasse Bremen. The Donors' Circle has been the patron of the prize since 1985 and has ensured its continued existence. It also enables the purchase of a work by the respective prize winner.

The Prize is one of the oldest and most important prizes for contemporary art in Germany; it is awarded every two years in Bremen. Six international curators as well as the Donors’ Circle for the Pauli-Prize and Christoph Grunenberg, Director of the Kunsthalle Bremen, each independently nominate an artist whose work will be displayed in an exhibition at the Kunsthalle Bremen. Over the course of this exhibition, a renowned international jury will determine the award winner.

History

The Prize of the Böttcherstraße was established by the HAG Foundation in Bremen in 1954 and awarded annually until 1983. Until then, the exhibition was presented in the Böttcherstraße in Bremen. Between 1985 and 1991, it was bestowed as the Bremen Kunstpreis and since 1993, as the Kunstpreis der Böttcherstraße (Prize of the Böttcherstraße) in Bremen. 2024, the Prize of the Böttcherstraße has been renamed and has since then been presented as Pauli-Prize. It is among the most recognized and highest-paid prizes awarded in the area of contemporary art in Germany. Since 1985, the prize has been financed by the Donors’ Circle for the Kunstpreis der Böttcherstraße in Bremen in the Kunstverein in Bremen (since 2024: Donors’ Circle for the Pauli-Prize) and is worth € 30,000. Since then, the prize has been held at the Kunsthalle Bremen. Artists who have received this prize include famous names such as Stephan Balkenhol, Wolfgang Tillmans, Olafur Eliasson, and Tino Sehgal.