27.02.2026
The 2026 Gabriel Grüner Scholarship has been awarded to Morgane Bona (text) and Johanna-Maria Fritz (photography). The Gabriel Grüner Student Prize for South Tyrol will be presented to Annalena Gufler and Fabian Pircher for their reportage „When Does Home End?“ (image above) about the oldest farmer in the municipality of Moos in Passeiertal.
This year, the Gabriel Grüner Scholarship goes to Morgane Bona (text) and Johanna-Maria Fritz (photos). The two journalists will create a report on a race to the North Pole of a different kind. The team aims to shed light on how a new military front line is emerging in the Arctic between Russia and Western states – and what impact this has on the daily lives of the people there.
The scholarship commemorates the native of Mals in South Tyrol Stern– Reporter Gabriel Grüner, who was murdered on June 13, 1999, while researching in Kosovo, along with Volker Krämer and Senol Alit.
The Gabriel Grüner Scholarship, which is being awarded for the 27th time this year, comes with a prize of 6,000 euros. Additionally, the winning team receives a two-month residency scholarship at Akademie Schloss Solitude in Stuttgart.
This year, 33 applications were submitted for the Gabriel Grüner Scholarship.
The jury of the Gabriel Grüner Scholarship 2026
Rainer Nübel (Professor of Media and Communications Management, Fresenius University of Applied Sciences Heidelberg; Chairman of the Jury), Angela Butterstein (Press Officer of Akademie Schloss Solitude Stuttgart), Uschi Entenmann (Zeitenspiegel Reportagen and Protestant University of Applied Sciences Ludwigsburg), Cornelia Fuchs (Deputy Editor-in-Chief of the Stern), Peter Grüner (Social Worker, Brother of Gabriel Grüner), Anton Hunger (Journalist and Book Author), Georg Mair (Editor-in-Chief of ff – The South Tyrolean Weekly MagazineStephanie Nannen (Publicist), Oda Schäfer (Producer), Jonas Wresch (Freelance Photographer)
Gabriel Grüner Student Award 2026
The Gabriel Grüner Student Prize for South Tyrol, which Zeitenspiegel Reportagen is awarding in collaboration with the Pedagogical Department of the Autonomous Province of Bolzano-South Tyrol, the Education Committee of the Municipality of Mals, and the South Tyrolean weekly magazine ff The award goes this year to Annalena Gufler and Fabian Pircher from the State Vocational School for Commerce and Graphics for their reportage „When does home stop?“. In it, they portray the oldest farmer in the municipality of Moos in Passeiertal. His story tells of a life full of work. „When he is no longer around, the Klotz farm could be one of the 130 farms that disappear every year in South Tyrol,“ say the two students.
This year, nine applications were submitted for the Gabriel Grüner Student Award. It is endowed with 1000 euros. The winning team also completes internships at the weekly magazine ff in Bozen, South Tyrol, as well as at Stern in Hamburg.
The jury of the Gabriel Grüner Student Prize 2026
Rainer Nübel (Professor of Media and Communications Management, Fresenius University of Applied Sciences Heidelberg; Chairman of the Jury), Angela Butterstein (Press Officer of Akademie Schloss Solitude Stuttgart), Uschi Entenmann (Zeitenspiegel Reportagen and Protestant University of Applied Sciences Ludwigsburg), Cornelia Fuchs (Deputy Editor-in-Chief of the Stern), Peter Grüner (Social Worker, Brother of Gabriel Grüner), Anton Hunger (Journalist and Book Author), Georg Mair (Editor-in-Chief of ff – The South Tyrolean Weekly MagazineStephanie Nannen (Publicist), Oda Schäfer (Producer), Jonas Wresch (Freelance Photographer)
The awarding of the Gabriel Grüner Scholarship and the Gabriel Grüner Student Prize will take place on May 22, 2026, in Mals, South Tyrol.