Prof. Stollberg-Rilinger receives Innovation Prize of North Rhine-Westphalia

Laureate of the Leibniz Prize and Spokesperson of the Cluster of Excellence at Münster University is awarded “Honorary Prize”

Münster (upm), Mo, 21 Jan 2013

The Historian and prizewinner of the renowned Leibniz Prize, Prof. Barbara Stollberg-Rilinger (57) of Münster University, receives the Innovation Prize of North Rhine-Westphalia. The chairholder of Early Modern History at the History Department at Münster University will be awarded the "Honour Prize" for her outstanding achievements in historical research. "Barbara Stollberg-Rilinger represents a holistic way of viewing historical processes together with a society's culture and its forms of communication," Science Minister Svenja Schulze stated today (22 November 2012) at the announcement in Düsseldorf. This award is one of the most important research prizes in Germany and will be conferred on Monday, 26 November 2012, in Düsseldorf.

The spokesperson of the recently extended Cluster of Excellence "Religion and Politics" has shown that her research – including forms of communication, rites and symbols – is of considerable relevance for politics and society. It also plays an important role in the comprehension of social change processes, said the minister. "Thereby she provides the intellectual tools needed to master even the great social challenges of our time."

Barbara Stollberg-Rilinger was delighted with this award and her immediate response was: "I consider this prize – which until now has been repeatedly given to researchers of technology and industry – a recognition of my commitment to humanities and the achievements of the Cluster of Excellence".

In addition to this honour award, prizes in the categories Innovation and Young Researchers went to Prof. Christof Paar (49) of the Ruhr-Universität in Bochum and to Dr. Karl Mayrhofer (34), who is a research group leader at the Max Planck Institute for Iron Research in Düsseldorf. According to the ministry, the criteria for the award are a strong academic potential, excellent research and practical relevance. In 2011, the honour prize was given to Prof. Ernst Ulrich von Weizsäcker from the Wuppertal Institute for Climate, Environment and Energy.

Barbara Stollberg-Rilinger qualified as a professor after studying and obtaining a doctorate at the University of Cologne in 1994. She published her postdoctoral qualification on "Guardians of the People? Concepts of Estate Representation from the Westphalian Peace until the End of the Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation." In 1997 she took over the chair of Early Modern History at the History Department of Münster University. One of her major awards, besides the Leibniz Prize (2005), is the Federal Cross of Merit (2007). Since 2010 she has been coordinating the Cluster of Excellence "Religion and Politics in Pre-Modern and Modern Cultures" at Münster University.

Translated by: Jennifer Hager, Katharina Schumacher, Sonja-Kristin Menz

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