Kleinkunstpreis BW Preisverleihung

In the organizer's words:

The winners of the Kleinkunstpreis Baden-Württemberg 2025 have been announced!

The three main prizes, each worth 5,000 euros, go to comedian Aurel Mertz, comedienne and cabaret artist Doris Reichenauer and piano cabaret artist Prof. Timm Sigg. The sponsorship prize of 2,000 euros goes to singer-songwriter Elena Seeger. The prizes are financed in equal parts by Lotto Baden-Württemberg and the state of Baden-Württemberg. The Kleinkunstpreis has been promoting and supporting artists in Baden-Württemberg for almost 40 years. This year's winners have now been chosen by the jury.

Award ceremony and honors

State Secretary for the Arts Arne Braun and Managing Director of Lotto Baden-Württemberg Georg Wacker will jointly present the prizes at E-WERK Freiburg on October 7, 2025. On this evening, Lotto Baden-Württemberg's honorary prize of 5,000 euros will also be awarded for the 16th time, the winner of which will only be announced at the award ceremony. The award recognizes a personality who has rendered outstanding services to cabaret in Baden-Württemberg. The eight-member jury for the Kleinkunstpreis 2025 includes artists as well as representatives from the event industry and SWR.

The award winners will present their skills at the event. A special highlight will be the announcement of the honorary prize with a surprise performance by the winners.

The evening will be hosted this year by cabaret artist, actor and presenter Uli Böttcher.

With

The award winners in detail
Stuttgart-born comedian Aurel Mertz has been touring Germany as a stand-up comedian since 2017. He is also successful on social media and has around 286,000 followers on Instagram. He deliberately uses his voice and reach to draw attention to world events. The jury agrees: "Aurel Mertz combines the best of both worlds. He masters social media just as confidently as the stage - informally, authentically and without hackneyed comedy clichés. His performances are precise, smart and exactly how stand-up should be today. This quality deserves the main prize."

Doris Reichenauer knew early on that she was destined for the stage. Her career began on the Stuttgart dialect stage "Stäffelesrutscher". The Gechingen native has been on the road as a solo artist since 2024. The cabaret artist is bursting with energy and captivates the audience with her unmistakable humor. The jury also found: "Doris Reichenauer always varies her favorite topics in a creative way: life and love. Her charming Swabian appearance has an enormous impact on the audience."

Mathematics and cabaret? The Stuttgart-based piano cabaret artist and mathematics professor Timm Sigg shows how well the two go together. With passion, wit and a pinch of self-irony, he makes mathematics accessible and entertains his audience with witty original compositions on the piano. "Mathematics is a horror for many people. Mathematics professor Timm Sigg manages - in his second profession - to eloquently and musically transform the world of numbers and theory into more than entertaining stage art pieces," praised the jury.

Swabian singer-songwriter Elena Seeger enchants the audience with her vocals and guitar. Her spectrum ranges from lyrical ballads to ironically critical pieces and whimsical musings. The jury's verdict: "Anyone listening to Elena Seeger quickly realizes that this is no ordinary singer-songwriter. Her themes? Springerle, Nachtkrapp, unicorns - and yes, vegetables too. Her music blends dialect not only with irony, but also with tenderness. Because humor often reveals the deepest form of home - a home that is not exclusionary, but open, curious and polyphonic."

The event is produced by Südwestrundfunk (SWR) and supervised by the Landesarbeitsgemeinschaft der Kulturinitiativen und Soziokulturellen Zentren Baden-Württemberg (LAKS).

*The State Prize for Cabaret has been awarded since 1986 and is a central component of cultural promotion in Baden-Württemberg. In addition to the Ministry and Lotto Baden-Württemberg, Südwestrundfunk (SWR) and LAKS also support the prize.

The 2024 award winners were cabaret artist René Sydow, the artistic duo Chris Iris and the ventriloquist Murzarella. The sponsorship awards went to the a cappella group anders and the singer-songwriters Rhinwaldsounds. The honorary prize went to Patrizia Moresco.*

Price information:

Admission VVK: 22€ / 17€ (reduced)