The 2026 German Cartoon Prize was awarded on 8 November at the Schauspielhaus Dresden . The top prize, the “Winged Pencil in Gold” and €4,000, went to Berlin-based physician and cartoonist Jan Klocke for his cartoon “Tumour Therapy”. The Silver Pencil and €3,000 went to Leonard Riegel from Frankfurt am Main. The Bronze Pencil and €2,000 went to Leipzig cartoonist and anaesthetist Teresa Backmund for “Career Changer”. The Newcomer Prize, worth €1,000, went to Maxim Seehagen from Lower Saxony.
The 2026 competition was held under the motto “Ready for Therapy”. According to the organisers, around 265 artists took part, submitting more than 1,000 entries. A specialist jury selected the prize winners, assessing the works’ subject matter, artistic quality and narrative power. The competition has been organised for years by the Sächsische Zeitung with partners and is one of the leading forums for political illustration in the German-speaking world.
The awards ceremony also marks the start of an exhibition series: the award-winning and nominated works will be on display from 9 November at the Haus der Presse in Dresden. Other venues include Bremen and Schloss Agathenburg. An audience prize will also be offered at the exhibition venues. According to the organisers, the audience prize for 2025 went to Teresa Habild for “School Kiosk”.
Each year, the competition reflects current issues and the tone of public debate. This year, the jury recognised incisive works that combine medical and political motifs without sacrificing economy of line. The decision in Dresden also highlights how newsrooms and cultural institutions in central Germany work together to sustain cartooning as a form of journalism and art.
The organisers said that further details on the jury, nominee lists and exhibition dates would be announced through their information channels. For visitors in Dresden, Bremen and at Schloss Agathenburg, the exhibitions offer an opportunity to compare the breadth of contemporary cartooning, from laconic wit and formal rigour to sharp social observation.
Editor: Celestina Fuentes (Article created with AI assistance).