The Herder Prize, established in 1963 and named for Johann Gottfried von Herder, was a prestigious international prize dedicated to the promotion of scientific, art and literature relations, and presented to scholars and artists from Central and Southeastern Europe whose life and work have improved the cultural understanding of European countries and their peaceful interrelations.
The jury was composed of German and Austrian universities. Financing for the Herder Award (which amounted to 15,000 €) was ensured by the Alfred Töpfer Foundation in Hamburg. The awards were traditionally presented at the University of Vienna each year and handed over by the President of Austria. It was also possible to make a nomination for a one-year Herder scholarship (900-1000 € monthly) at an Austrian university.
In 2007, the Herder Prize merged with another fund creating a new European culture prize worth 75,000 € and designed to encourage young European artists.
| Year | Name | Nationality and occupation |
|---|---|---|
| 1964 | Jan Kott | Polish theater critic |
| 1965 | Tudor Arghezi | Romanian writer |
| László Németh | Hungarian writer | |
| 1966 | Ján Cikker | Slovak composer |
| 1967 | Witold Lutosławski | Polish composer |
| Mihai Pop | Romanian ethnologist | |
| Vladimír Kompánek | Slovak sculptor | |
| 1968 | Lajos Vayer | Hungarian art historian |
| 1969 | Pancho Vladigerov | Bulgarian composer, pedagogue, and pianist |
| 1970 | Gyula Illyés | Hungarian poet and novelist |
| Zoltan Franjo | Romanian poet and translator | |
| 1971 | Zaharia Stancu | Romanian writer |
| 1972 | Gyula Ortutay | Hungarian ethnographer |
| Virgil Vătăşianu | Romanian art historian | |
| Atanas Dalchev | Bulgarian poet, critic and translator | |
| 1973 | Zbigniew Herbert | Polish poet, essayist and moralist |
| 1975 | Nichita Stănescu | Romanian poet |
| Gabor Presisch | Hungarian architect | |
| 1976 | Dezső Keresztury | Hungarian writer, poet |
| Marin Goleminov | Bulgarian composer | |
| 1977 | Eugen Barbu | Romanian novelist, playwright and journalist |
| Krzysztof Penderecki | Polish composer | |
| 1978 | Béla Gunda | Hungarian ethnographer |
| 1979 | Ferenc Farkas | Hungarian composer |
| 1980 | Emil Condurachi | Romanian academician, historian |
| 1981 | Sándor Csoóri | Hungarian poet, writer |
| 1982 | Ana Blandiana | Romanian poet, essayist, and political figure |
| Imre Varga | Hungarian sculptor | |
| 1983 | ||
| Władysław Bartoszewski | Polish historian and politician | |
| Jozef Jankovič | Slovak sculptor | |
| György Konrád | Hungarian novelist and essayist | |
| Adrian Marino | Romanian literary critic | |
| Stoimen Stoilov | Bulgarian artist | |
| 1984 | Constantin Lucaci | Romanian sculptor |
| Krzysztof Meyer | Polish composer | |
| 1985 | Adrian Marino | Romanian literary critic, historian and theoretician |
| 1986 | Tekla Dömötör | Hungarian writer |
| Anatol Vieru | Romanian composer | |
| 1987 | József Ujfalussy | Hungarian aesthete |
| 1988 | Ana Blandiana | Romanian poet |
| Zoe Dumitrescu Bușulenga | Romanian literature historian and critic | |
| Constantin Noica | Romanian philosopher and essayist | |
| György Györffy | Hungarian historian | |
| 1990 | Dejan Medaković | Serbian art historian and poet |
| András Vizkelety | Hungarian philologist | |
| 1991 | Marin Sorescu | Romanian poet, playwright, and novelist |
| Stoimen Stoilov | Bulgarian artist | |
| 1992 | Zmaga Kumer | Slovenian musicologist, Slavics scholar, and folklore researcher |
| 1994 | Sándor Kányádi | Hungarian poet |
| Zigmas Zinkevičius | Lithuanian linguist and historian | |
| 1995 | Wisława Szymborska | Polish poet, essayist and translator |
| Jaan Undusk | Estonian writer and literary critic | |
| Mirko Kovač | Croatian, Serbian, montnegrin, bosno-Herzegovinian writer | |
| 1996 | Konstantin Iliev | Bulgarian dramatist |
| Pēteris Vasks | Latvian composer | |
| 1997 | Bogdan Bogdanović | Serbian architect |
| Ferenc Glatz | Hungarian academician, professor | |
| Jaan Kross | Estonian writer | |
| 1998 | Imre Bak | Hungarian artist |
| Andrei Corbea Hoişie | Romanian philologist | |
| 1999 | Mircea Dinescu | Romanian poet, editor and dissident |
| István Fried | Hungarian literary scholar | |
| Svetlana Alexievich | Byelorussian investigative journalist | |
| 2000 | Imre Kertész | Hungarian writer |
| Milan Kundera | Czech writer | |
| Arvo Pärt | Estonian composer | |
| 2001 | Yuri Andrukhovych | Ukrainian writer |
| Janez Bernik | Slovenian painter | |
| János Böhönyey | Hungarian architect | |
| Marek Kopelent | Czech composer | |
| 2002 | Péter Esterházy | Hungarian writer |
| 2003 | Drago Jančar | Slovenian novelist and dramatist |
| Károly Manherz | Hungarian Germanist, linguist, professor | |
| Ana Maria Zahariade | Romanian architect | |
| 2004 | Theodore Antoniou | Greek composer and conductor |
| Éva Pócs | Hungarian ethnographer | |
| 2005 | Károly Klimó | Hungarian artist |
| Hanna Krall | Polish journalist and writer | |
| Primož Kuret | Slovenian historian and musicologist | |
| Jiří Kuthan | Czech historian and art historian | |
| Andrei Marga | Romanian professor, philosopher | |
| Eimuntas Nekrošius | Lithuanian theater director | |
| Krešimir Nemec | Croatian literary critic | |
| 2006 | Wlodzimierz Borodziej | Polish historian |
| Nicos Hadzinikolau | Greek art historian | |
| Gabriela Kilianova | Slovak ethnologist | |
| Ene Mihkelson | Estonian writer | |
| Vojteh Ravnikar | Slovenian architect, professor |