Nele Hertling receives the Berlin Theater Prize for her commitment to the arts scene

The dramaturge and artistic director Nele Hertling has been awarded the Berlin Theater Prize. The jury said on Thursday that Hertling has been transforming Berlin for 60 years.

She will receive the 20,000 euro prize at the Berlin Theatre Meeting in May for her commitment to the Berlin art scene, which she has shaped as Vice President of the Akademie der Künste, as founder and director of the Kreuzberg Hebbel Theater and as head of the DAAD artists' programme.

"We pay tribute to a great artist," said Berlin's Governing Mayor Kai Wegner (CDU), according to the press release. He is the Chairman of the Council of the Stiftung Preußische Seehandlung, which awards the prize. "Europe was just as important to her as strengthening our community and democracy, the fight for freedom and against intolerance." The cultural, theater and dance scene owes a great deal to Nele Hertling.

The theater prize has been awarded since 1988. Previous recipients include the actresses Sandra Hüller, Corinna Harfouch and Sophie Rois. The Stiftung Preußische Seehandlung was founded in 1983 by the state of Berlin from the remaining assets of the Prussian State Bank.