The Donors’ Circle for the Pauli Prize in the Kunstverein in Bremen
This donors’ circle is an association of members of the Kunstverein in Bremen, as well as the Senator of Culture and the Sparkasse Bremen. It offers the Pauli Prize to recognize an artist living in the German-speaking countries for their outstanding contributions to contemporary art which hasn’t received the recognition it deserves.

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 prestigious curators, the director of the Kunsthalle Bremen, and the Donors’ Circle for the Pauli Prize each independently nominate an artist whose work will be displayed in an exhibition at the Kunsthalle Bremen. Over the course of the show, a renowned international jury will determine the award winner.

The Prize of the Böttcherstraße was endowed by HAG AG 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. It is among the most recognized and highest-paid prizes awarded in the area of contemporary art in Germany. Since 1985, the Prize of the Böttcherstraße 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.