The Grand Austrian State Prize is a decoration given annually by Austria

Austria

Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...

 to an artist for exceptional work. The recipient must be an Austrian citizen with a permanent residence in Austria.

It was originally created in 1950 by then education minister Felix Hurdes. The prize is given according to the recommendation by the Austrian Art Senate without a set rotation schedule for literature

Literature

Literature is the art of written works, and is not bound to published sources...

, music

Music

Music is an art form whose medium is sound and silence. Its common elements are pitch , rhythm , dynamics, and the sonic qualities of timbre and texture...

, visual art, or architecture

Architecture

Architecture is both the process and product of planning, designing and construction. Architectural works, in the material form of buildings, are often perceived as cultural and political symbols and as works of art...

. Since 2003 it has been endowed with a 30,000 euro

Euro

The euro is the official currency of the eurozone: 17 of the 27 member states of the European Union. It is also the currency used by the Institutions of the European Union. The eurozone consists of Austria, Belgium, Cyprus, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg,...

 prize. In the areas of film

Film

A film, also called a movie or motion picture, is a series of still or moving images. It is produced by recording photographic images with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or visual effects...

 and artistic photography, the prize is awarded according to a jury and not the Art Senate.

Since 1971, the prize has been given to only one person a year, instead of sometimes given to multiple people in different categories.

Literature

1950 Josef Leitgeb	1951 Felix Braun Felix Braun Felix Braun was an Austrian writer.-Life:Braun was born in Vienna to a Jewish family. His mother died in 1888 during the birth of his sister, Käthe, who would also become a famous writer...	1952 Martina Wied
1953 Rudolf Henz Rudolf Kassner Rudolf Kassner Rudolf Kassner was an Austrian writer, essayist, translator and cultural philosopher. Although stricken as an infant with poliomyelitis, Kassner traveled widely to northern Africa, the Sahara, India, Russia, Spain, and throughout Europe. His translations of William Blake introduced this English...	1954 Max Mell	1955 Franz Theodor Csokor Franz Theodor Csokor Franz Theodor Csokor was an Austrian author and dramatist, particularly well-known for his Expressionist dramas. His most successful and best-known piece is 3. November 1918, about the downfall of the K. u. k. monarchy...
1956 Franz Nabl	1957 Heimito von Doderer Heimito von Doderer Heimito von Doderer was a famous Austrian writer.- Life and work :... , Franz Karl Ginzkey Franz Karl Ginzkey Franz Karl Ginzkey was an austro-Hungarian officer, poet and writer...	1958 Imma von Bodmershof Imma von Bodmershof Imma von Bodmershof was an Austrian poetess born in Graz. She received the Grand Austrian State Prize in 1958 for her work Sieben Handvoll Salz , a novel set in Sicily. She was notorious in her contribution to Islamic literature...
1959 Carl Zuckmayer Carl Zuckmayer Carl Zuckmayer was a German writer and playwright.-Biography:Born in Nackenheim in Rheinhessen, he was four years old when his family moved to Mainz. With the outbreak of World War I, he finished school with a facilitated "emergency"-Abitur and volunteered for military service...	1961 Albert Paris Gütersloh Albert Paris Gütersloh Albert Paris Gütersloh was an Austrian painter and writer.Gütersloh worked as actor, director, and stage designer before he focused on painting in 1921.... , Alexander Lernet-Holenia Alexander Lernet-Holenia Alexander Lernet-Holenia was an Austrian poet, novelist, dramaturgist and writer of screenplays and historical studies who produced a heterogeneous literary opus that included poesy, psychological novels describing the intrusion of otherworldly or unreal experiences into reality, and recreational...	1962 George Saiko
1963 Kurt Frieberger	1964 Johannes Urzidil Johannes Urzidil Johannes Urzidil was a Czech-German writer, poet, historian, and journalist. Born in Prague, he died in Rome....	1966 Fritz Hochwälder Fritz Hochwälder Fritz Hochwälder also known as Fritz Hochwaelder, was an Austrian playwright. Known for his spare prose and strong moralist themes, Hochwälder won several literary awards, including the Austrian State Prize for Literature in 1966...
1967 Elias Canetti Elias Canetti Elias Canetti was a Bulgarian-born modernist novelist, playwright, memoirist, and non-fiction writer. He wrote in German and won the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1981, "for writings marked by a broad outlook, a wealth of ideas and artistic power".-Life:...	1968 Ingeborg Bachmann Ingeborg Bachmann Ingeborg Bachmann was an Austrian poet and author.-Biography:Bachmann was born in Klagenfurt, in the Austrian state of Carinthia, the daughter of a headmaster. She studied philosophy, psychology, German philology, and law at the universities of Innsbruck, Graz, and Vienna... , Marlen Haushofer Marlen Haushofer Marlen Haushofer née Marie Helene Frauendorfer was an Austrian author, most famous for her only novel translated into English, The Wall. Haushofer was born in Frauenstein in Upper Austria. She attended Catholic boarding school in Linz, and went on to study German literature in Vienna, as well as...	1969 Christine Busta Christine Busta Christine Busta was an Austrian poet.She received several awards, e.g. the Georg-Trakl-Preis in 1954.In her work she stood for an undogmatic Catholicism....
1970 Christine Lavant Christine Lavant Christine Lavant was an Austrian poet and novelist.- Life :...	1972 Friedrich Heer Friedrich Heer Friedrich Heer was a historian born in Vienna. He received a PhD at the University in Vienna in 1938. Even as a student he came into conflict with pan-German thinking historians as a staunch opponent of National Socialism....	1974 Hans Carl Artmann
1977 Manès Sperber Manès Sperber Manès Sperber was an Austrian-French novelist, essayist and psychologist. He also wrote under the pseudonyms Jan Heger and N.A. Menlos....	1979 Friedrich Torberg Friedrich Torberg Friedrich Torberg is the pen-name of Friedrich Kantor, an Austrian writer.- Biography :...	1982 Christin Karl
1984 Ernst Jandl Ernst Jandl Ernst Jandl was an Austrian writer, poet, and translator.- Poetry :Influenced by Dada he started to write experimental poetry, first published in the journal "Neue Wege" in 1952....	1987 Peter Handke Peter Handke Peter Handke is an avant-garde Austrian novelist and playwright.-Early life:Handke and his mother lived in the Soviet-occupied Pankow district of Berlin from 1944 to 1948 before resettling in Griffen...	1989 Oswald Wiener
1991 Gerhard Rühm	1994 Wolfgang Bauer	1995 Ilse Aichinger Ilse Aichinger Ilse Aichinger is an Austrian writer noted for her accounts of her persecution by the Nazis because of her Jewish ancestry.- Life :...
1998 Andreas Okopenko Andreas Okopenko Andreas Okopenko was an Austrian writer.Andreas Okopenko's father was a Ukrainian physician and his mother was Austrian. From 1939, the family lived in Vienna. After studying chemistry at the University of Vienna Okopenko was active in the industry. Starting from 1950 he dedicated himself...	2001 Gert Jonke Gert Jonke Gert Jonke was an Austrian poet, playwright and novelist.-Life:Jonke was born and educated in Klagenfurt, Austria. He attended the Gymnasium and the Conservatory...

Music

1950 Joseph Marx Joseph Marx Joseph Rupert Rudolf Marx was an Austrian composer, teacher and critic.-Life and career:Marx pursued studies in philosophy, art history, German studies, and music at Graz University, earning several degrees including a doctorate in 1909. He began composing seriously in 1908 and over the next four...	1951 Egon Kornauth	1953 Paul Angerer Paul Angerer Paul Angerer is an Austrian violist, conductor and composer.- Life :Angerer studied music theory and composition with Friedrich Reidinger and Alfred Uhl, and conducting with Hans Swarowsky... , Johann Nepomuk David Johann Nepomuk David Johann Nepomuk David was an Austrian composer.He began his musical career in the monastery of Sankt Florian, and was a composition student of Joseph Marx....
1955 Josef Matthias Hauer	1956 Hans Erich Apostel, Otto Siegl	1957 Hans Gál Hans Gál Hans Gál was a composer, teacher and pianist.Gál was born to a Jewish family in the small village of Brunn am Gebirge, Niederösterreich, just outside Vienna. He was trained in that city at the New Vienna Conservatory where later he taught for some time. While a student he won the K. und K...
1959 Theodor Berger Theodor Berger Theodor Berger was an Austrian composer.Berger studied with Franz Schmidt at the Wiener Musikakademie from 1926 to 1932. From 1932 to 1939 he was in Berlin, where Wilhelm Furtwangler became an active proponent of his work... , Alfred Uhl Alfred Uhl Alfred Uhl was an Austrian composer, violist, music teacher and conductor.-Biography:Uhl studied with Franz Schmidt at the Vienna Music Academy, receiving a diploma in composition with honours in 1932. He subsequently worked as Kapellmeister of the Swiss Festspielmusik in Zürich...	1961 Egon Wellesz Egon Wellesz Egon Joseph Wellesz was an Austrian-born British composer, teacher and musicologist, notable particularly in the field of Byzantine music.- Life :...	1963 Ernst Krenek Ernst Krenek Ernst Krenek was an Austrian of Czech origin and, from 1945, American composer. He explored atonality and other modern styles and wrote a number of books, including Music Here and Now , a study of Johannes Ockeghem , and Horizons Circled: Reflections on my Music...
1965 Gottfried von Einem Gottfried von Einem Gottfried von Einem was an Austrian composer. He is known chiefly for his operas influenced by the music of Stravinsky and Prokofiev, as well as by jazz. He also composed pieces for piano, violin and organ.-Biography:...	1966 Hanns Jelinek Hanns Jelinek Hanns Jelinek was an Austrian composer of Czech descent who is also known under the pseudonym Hanns Elin....	1967 Karl Schiske
1968 Erich Marckhl	1969 Anton Heiller Anton Heiller Anton Heiller was an Austrian organist, harpsichordist, composer, conductor.-Biography:Heiller was born at Vienna. After undergoing his initial church music training with Wilhelm Mück — organist at the Stephansdom Anton Heiller (September 15, 1923 — March 25, 1979) was an Austrian organist,...	1970 Marcel Rubin Marcel Rubin Marcel Rubin was an Austrian composer.Born in Vienna where he eventually studied with Franz Schmidt, he later emigrated to Paris where he pursued further studies with Darius Milhaud. After living in Mexico City for a while, he returned to Vienna after the end of World War II.Among other works he...
1976 Cesar Bresgen Cesar Bresgen Cesar Bresgen was an Austrian composer.-Biography:He was born in Florence to Maria and August Bresgen, both artists. He spent his childhood in Zell am See, Munich, Prague, and Salzburg....	1981 Roman Haubenstock-Ramati Roman Haubenstock-Ramati Roman Haubenstock-Ramati was a composer and music editor who worked in Kraków, Tel Aviv and Vienna.Haubenstock-Ramati studied composition, music theory, violin and philosophy in Kraków and Lemberg from 1937 to 1940. Among his teachers were Artur Malawski and Józef Koffler. From 1947 to 1950 he was...	1986 Friedrich Cerha Friedrich Cerha Friedrich Cerha is an Austrian composer and conductor.-Biography:Cerha was born in Vienna.He received his education at the Viennese Music Academy and at the University of Vienna...
1990 György Ligeti György Ligeti György Sándor Ligeti was a composer of contemporary classical music. Born in a Hungarian Jewish family in Transylvania, Romania, he briefly lived in Hungary before becoming an Austrian citizen.-Early life:...	1992 Kurt Schwertsik Kurt Schwertsik Kurt Schwertsik is an Austrian contemporary composer. He is famous for creating the “Third Viennese School” and spreading contemporary classical music....	2002 Hans Karl Gruber	2006 Georg Friedrich Haas Georg Friedrich Haas Georg Friedrich Haas is an Austrian composer of spectral music.He grew up in Tschagguns and studied composition with Gösta Neuwirth, Iván Erőd, and piano with Doris Wolf at the Musikhochschule in Graz...

Visual Art

1951 Alfred Kubin Alfred Kubin Alfred Leopold Isidor Kubin was an Austrian printmaker, illustrator and occasional writer. Kubin is considered an important representative of Symbolism and Expressionism.-Biography:...	1952 Albert Paris Gütersloh Albert Paris Gütersloh Albert Paris Gütersloh was an Austrian painter and writer.Gütersloh worked as actor, director, and stage designer before he focused on painting in 1921....	1954 Herbert Boeckl
1955 Oskar Kokoschka Oskar Kokoschka Oskar Kokoschka was an Austrian artist, poet and playwright best known for his intense expressionistic portraits and landscapes.-Biography:... , Fritz Wotruba Fritz Wotruba Fritz Wotruba was an Austrian sculptor of Czecho-Hungarian descent. He was considered one of the most notable Austrian 20th century sculptors...	1956 Alfred Wickenburg	1957 Karl Sterrer Karl Sterrer Karl Sterrer, was an Austrian painter and engraver.-Biography:Karl Sterrer was the son of the sculptor Carl Sterrer.He studied at the Academy of Vienna under August Delug and Griepenkerl. Equally adept at both landscapes and portraits he won the prestigious Prix de Rome in 1908...
1958 Toni Schneider-Manzell	1960 Max Weiler Max Weiler Max Weiler was a Swiss footballer who played as a defender. He played for FC Winterthur and Grasshopper Club Zürich, and also represented Switzerland at international level... , Ferdinand Kitt	1962 Josef Dobrowsky
1963 Arnold Jakob Clementschitsch	1965 Sergius Pauser	1966 Hans Fronius Hans Fronius Hans Fronius was an Austrian painter and illustrator.He was born in Sarajevo, which was then a territory of Austria-Hungary . His father was descended from an old, aristocratic Transylvanian Saxon family [see Fronius]...
1968 Kurt Moldovan	1969 Rudolf Hoflehner	1973 Joannis Avramidis Joannis Avramidis Joannis Avramidis is a Greek-Austrian sculptor. He was born in Batumi, Georgia in 1922.He studied in Batumi and later at Fritz Wotruba in Vienna.He became a professor at the Academy of Fine Arts Vienna and from 1966 in Hamburg. In 1962 he represented Austria at the Venice Biennale.-References:...
1978 Arnulf Rainer Arnulf Rainer Arnulf Rainer , is an Austrian painter and is internationally renowned for his abstract informal art.In his early years, Rainer was influenced by Surrealism...	1980 Friedensreich Hundertwasser Friedensreich Hundertwasser Friedensreich Regentag Dunkelbunt Hundertwasser was an Austrian painter and architect. Born Friedrich Stowasser in Vienna, he became one of the best-known contemporary Austrian artists, although controversial, by the end of the 20th century.-Life:Hundertwasser's father Ernst Stowasser died three...	1985 Walter Pichler Walter Pichler Walter Georg Pichler is a former German biathlete from Bad Reichenhall, who represented West Germany. At the 1984 Winter Olympics in Sarajevo, Pichler won a bronze medal with the West German relay team consisting of Peter Angerer, Ernst Reiter and Fritz Fischer.-References:...
1988 Maria Lassnig Maria Lassnig Maria Lassnig is an Austrian artist. Her paintings are an exploration of the body, a central theme which she calls "body awareness"....	1993 Bruno Gironcoli Bruno Gironcoli Bruno Gironcoli was one of Austria's most famous modern artists.Born in Villach, Gironcoli began training as a goldsmith in 1951 in Innsbruck, completing his apprenticeship in 1956. Between 1957 and 1962 he studied in the University of Applied Arts Vienna...	1996 Günter Brus
1997 Christian Ludwig Attersee	2003 Siegfried Anzinger

Architecture

1950 Josef Hoffmann Josef Hoffmann Josef Hoffmann was an Austrian architect and designer of consumer goods.- Biography :...	1953 Clemens Holzmeister Clemens Holzmeister Clemens Holzmeister was a prominent Austrian architect and stage designer of the early twentieth century. The Austrian Academy of Fine Arts listed his life's work as containing 673 projects. He is the father of Judith Holzmeister.Holzmeister was born in the village of Fulpmes in the Tyrol state of...	1954 Max Fellerer
1958 Erich Boltenstern	1962 Roland Rainer Roland Rainer Roland Rainer was an Austrian architect.Born in Klagenfurt, Roland Rainer decided to become an architect when he was 18, so he studied at the Vienna University of Technology. His thesis was about the Karlsplatz in Vienna. Then, he left Austria visiting the Netherlands and the German Academy for...	1965 Josef Frank Josef Frank (architect) Josef Frank was an Austrian-born architect, artist, and designer who adopted Swedish citizenship in the latter half of his life. Together with Oskar Strnad, he created the Vienna School of Architecture, and its concept of Modern houses, housing and interiors.- Life :Josef Frank was of Jewish...
1967 Franz Schuster	1971 Gustav Peichl Gustav Peichl Gustav Peichl is an Austrian architect. Gustav built the EFA Radio Satellite Station in Aflenz Austria. And - is Ironimus - caricaturist.-External links:*...	1975 Karl Schwanzer Karl Schwanzer Karl Schwanzer was an Austrian architect. He was an important figure of post-war architecture.-Life:...
1983 Hans Hollein Hans Hollein Hans Hollein, is an Austrian architect and designer.Hollein achieved a diploma at the Academy of Fine Arts in Vienna in 1956, then attended the Illinois Institute of Technology in 1959 and the University of California, Berkeley in 1960...	1999 Coop Himmelb(l)au Coop Himmelb(l)au Coop Himmelbau is a cooperative architectural design firm primarily located in Vienna, Austria and which now also maintains offices in Los Angeles, United States and Guadalajara, Mexico...  - Wolf D. Prix, Helmut Swiczinsky	2000 Wilhelm Holzbauer
2004 Günther Domenig Günther Domenig Günther Domenig is an Austrian architect.Domenig studied architecture at the Technische Universität, Graz , and after working as an architectural assistant, set up in practice with Eilfried Huth , producing highly regarded buildings in a brutalist vein...