FRANKFURT AM MAIN, Germany, Oct. 9, 2017 /CNW/ – The winner of the German Book Prize 2017 is Robert Menasse for his novel “Die Hauptstadt” (Suhrkamp).

Statement from the jury:

“The humane is always worth striving for; it is never reliably given: With his novel ‘Die Hauptstadt’, Robert Menasse vividly shows that this also applies to the European Union. With great dramaturgical skill, he light-handedly digs into the deepest layers of this world we call our own – making unmistakably clear that, among other things, the economy alone will not be able to guarantee us a peaceful future. Those who are undermining the peace project that is Europe are among us – not infrequently, ‘the others’ are we ourselves. With ‘Die Hauptstadt’, Robert Menasse has achieved the goal he set for himself: In the novel, contemporaneity is realised with such literary ability that contemporaries will recognise themselves in it and those born later will be better able to understand these times.”