On Saturday, 18 April at 6 pm (admission from 5 pm), the International Stefan Heym Prize of the City of Chemnitz will be awarded to Juri Andruchowytsch. The award ceremony will take place at the event location dieFabrik Chemnitz, Zwickauer Straße 145, and will also mark the ceremonial start of this year's Days of Jewish Culture Chemnitz.
The awarding of the International Stefan Heym Prize of the City of Chemnitz and the opening of the 35th Days of Jewish Culture Chemnitz will be celebrated in a joint event this year. The combination of both events is deliberately linked to the biography of the Chemnitz-born writer Stefan Heym, whose Jewish origins and life experiences had a decisive influence on his literary and political commitment.
Mayor Sven Schulze will award the International Stefan Heym Prize of the City of Chemnitz to Juri Andruchowytsch at 6 pm. The Ukrainian writer, essayist and translator will receive the literary prize, which is endowed with 20,000 euros. With this award, the city of Chemnitz is honouring one of Ukraine's most important literary voices.
The laudatory speech will be held by Katharina Raabe, editor for Eastern European literatures at Suhrkamp Verlag. The event will be accompanied by music from Ukrainian musician, poet and composer Taras Tschubaj.
Following the award ceremony - from around 8 p.m. - guests are invited to an after-show party, which is also the opening party of the 35th Days of Jewish Culture.
The after-show and opening party will begin with aerialist Tanya Borysenko, who will combine elegance and acrobatic movement to create an impressive stage show.
Ukrainian musician, author and DJ Yuriy Gurzhy will provide the evening's musical entertainment. With his record collection, he will take the audience on a musical journey through the international klezmer scene and beyond. Born in Kharkiv, the artist has lived in Berlin for many years and is known for his numerous music and cultural projects. From 1999 to 2014, he organised the legendary "Russendisko" party series in the capital together with Wladimir Kaminer.
Registration for the award ceremony is required via the City of Chemnitz's citizen participation portal at www.chemnitz.de/heymtickets. Attendance at the after-show and opening party is possible without registration. Admission is free of charge for the entire evening.
Prizewinner reading on Sunday, 19 April, 3 pm
On Sunday 19 April at 3 pm, Yuri Andrukhovych will read from his work. The reading will be moderated by Prof Bernadette Malinowski, Professor of Modern German and Comparative Literature at Chemnitz University of Technology. The reading will take place in the Hartmannfabrik, Fabrikstraße 11 - in cooperation with the European Capital of Culture Chemnitz 2025 gGmbH.
The International Stefan Heym Society is organising the supporting programme for the award ceremony:
www.chemnitz.de/begleitprogramm_heympreis
Days of Jewish Culture Chemnitz 2026
The 35th Days of Jewish Culture Chemnitz will take place from 18 to 26 April. They are characterised by "Tacheles und Schmonzes", loosely translated: plain language and gossip.
Programme director Chris Münster: "Our present suffers from both in a distorted way: Lots of supposed plain speaking, too little sense of humour. We very much hope to remedy this with this year's programme."
In 2026, the Free State of Saxony is celebrating the theme year "Tacheles - Jüdisch. Saxon. Mentshlich." 100 years after the founding of the first state association of Jewish communities. The aim is to make Jewish life visible in its historical depth, cultural diversity and present-day relevance.
This year's programme of the Days of Jewish Culture Chemnitz moves through various areas of the present.
On Sunday, 19 April, from 2 p.m., for example, families and interested parties are invited to a family day at the Garage Campus, where they can playfully and creatively explore Jewish history and traditions and become active themselves.
The complete programme can be found at: www.tdjk.de
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