Award winners of the GRASSIMESSE 2026, from left to right: Helmut Menzel, Margit Jäschke, Henriette Meyer-Stork, Yoo Chung Woo, Laerke Laura Nielsen, Benjamin Dittrich; Photo: Felix Bielmeier
The prizes for this year’s fair have been awarded
The ‘Carl and Anneliese Goerdeler Foundation Fund Award’, worth 3,000 €, goes to silversmith Beate Leonards for her precisely crafted silver functional art. Her vessels possess an inherent, subtle tension.
The ‘smow Design Prize’, worth €2,500, goes to 23-year-old product designer Henriette Meyer-Stork for her extendable, semi-circular wooden bench. She is currently still a student at the Burg Giebichenstein University of Art and Design in Halle
The ‘Sparkasse Leipzig Grassipris’, worth €2,000, goes to Berlin-based ceramicist Helmut Menzel for his powerful ceramics featuring intensely coloured glazes.
The “Gemma Grassipreis” is awarded to jewellery designer Margit Jäschke from Halle/Saale. She impressed the jury with her contemporary use of precious stones. This prize is sponsored by Ole Bergmann and comes with a prize in kind worth 4,000 euros.
The ‘Jan Willems Prize’, worth 1,500 euros, is being awarded this year to the Leipzig-based wood artist Benjamin Dittrich for his lively, vibrantly coloured wooden candleholders, such as the ‘Highway Puzzle’.
The ‘Apolline Prize’, worth 1,000 euros, goes to the Danish glass artist Laerke Laura Nielsen for her tactile glass objects.
The ‘Grassi Friends’ Prize’, worth 1,000 euros, is awarded to Yoo Chung Woo from South Korea for his imaginative ceramic installation.
In addition, the ‘GRASSI Young Talent Prize from culturtraeger’ is being awarded at Giebichenstein Castle / Halle University of Art and Design. This year, it goes to Jakob Trepel, a student on the Industrial Design course, for his ‘Changing Footprints’. Sneakers are made from up to 60 different materials, most of which are virtually impossible to recycle. This is where his concept comes in: a sneaker made from very few materials, all of which can be recycled separately.
