The Prize Committee appointed by Polish and German foreign ministers decided to bestow the 2025 Prize on two awardees: director Elwira Niewiera and Bredbeck education centre. This distinction credits the laureates’ merits “as representatives of civil societies of both countries” aimed at reinforcing Polish–German dialogue combined with initiatives that support Ukraine’s struggle against Russia’s aggression. 

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Elwira Niewiera is a screenwriter and director, co-author of award-winning documentaries, recognised at festivals both in Poland and abroad. One of her films, The Hamlet Syndrome (2022), is a coproduction with the German television. It tells the story of “the Maidan Generation,” that is young Ukrainians and their experience of the revolution and war in 2013–2014. In 2022, when Russia’s full-scale aggression against Ukraine began, Elwira Niewiera in cooperation with German partners started an association which not only provides equipment supplies but also collaborates with a therapy centre in the Carpathian Mountains, offering help to Ukrainian women who were hurt during the war.

Bredbeck education centre has been engaged in Polish–German dialogue for many years, especially in the field of education (supported by the German-Polish Youth Office, among other entities) and regional partnership between the counties of Kwidzyn and Osterholz. Its first trilateral project was launched in 2014, when young people from the Donetsk region in Ukraine were invited to participate. Over the last decade, the Bredbeck centre has completed around 50 similar projects.

Justifying the Committee’s decision, its co-chair Małgorzata Ławrowska-von Thadden said that “choosing this year’s awardees, we [the Committee] wanted to take into consideration the current international situation, as we live in a world where no country is an isolated island anymore. We wanted to honour the practical dimension of Polish–German dialogue at a special moment, when members of both of our societies rushed to aid and support Ukraine in its fight against Russian aggression.

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The Polish–German Prize is awarded “for outstanding merits for the development of Polish–German relations.” It was first established by the Polish–German Treaty of Good Neighbourship and Friendly Cooperation, signed on 17 June 1991. Besides prestige and recognition, the laureate also receives a financial reward offered by the Polish and German Ministries of Foreign Affairs.

Early this year, the Polish–German Prize Committee decided to bestow a special Polish–German Prize on Professor Rita Süssmuth in recognition of the entirety of her work for strengthening Polish–German ties. The official award ceremony took place in Munich on 14 February 2025, with Polish and German top diplomats in attendance.