Henry A. Kissinger Prize at Guggenheim New York

Henry A. Kissinger Prize at Guggenheim New York

A gathering in New York to celebrate and underscore the importance of the transatlantic relationship.

Published 24 Sep 2026

NEW YORK – On the evening of Tuesday, September 22, 2026, the American Academy in Berlin held its nineteenth Henry A. Kissinger Prize ceremony at the Guggenheim New York. The 2026 prize was awarded to Chancellor of the Federal Republic of Germany, Friedrich Merz, in absentia, for his outstanding contributions to the transatlantic partnership. Over 200 friends and supporters gathered to celebrate the Academy’s mission to support independent research across the arts, humanities, social sciences, journalism, and public policy—strengthening ties between the United States and Germany.

Academy president Daniel Benjamin and chairman Sandra E. Peterson delivered introductory remarks, and Ambassador Jens Hanefeld, the Federal Republic of Germany’s Ambassador to the United States, delivered remarks on behalf of the German government.

“I want to congratulate the Academy for its outstanding work; never before has this work been more crucial than it is today. In a new era in which transatlanticism is under pressure, the Academy is a vital voice of reason. Every day, every one of you helps prevent the Atlantic Ocean from widening. You keep the United States and Europe from drifting further apart. Thank you for your commitment to our common cause,” Merz said in a prerecorded video.

Speaking at the event, Benjamin said, “We are striving to fulfill the vision of our founders that the Academy be a place where Americans and Germans will come and reason together about the outstanding challenges of the day and build ties that bind for the decades ahead. We build the human infrastructure of trust that keeps our democratic societies bound together, even when the winds of politics seek to blow us apart. And trust is what we all need most now.”

We thank our partners for their dedication and generous support of the event: Bloomberg Philanthropies, Goldman Sachs, SAP, Mastercard, Bayer AG, BlackRock, Carrier, Celonis, Deutsche Bank AG, Fresenius SE & Co. KGaA, Google, Holtzbrinck, Marina Kellen French Foundation Inc., Rohde & Schwarz GmbH & Co. KG, Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP, Robert Bosch GmbH, Bank of America, Hakluyt & Co., Microsoft, TRUMPF, The Vieira Family Fund, Ann and Richard Sarnoff Family Foundation, Ardea Partners LP, Boston Consulting Group, Carol Kahn Strauss, J.P. Morgan, Lazard, Mercedes-Benz North America Corporation, PJT Partners, and STARK.

The Henry A. Kissinger Prize was established to honor the founding Chairman of the American Academy in Berlin. Previous recipients are Helmut Schmidt, George H.W. Bush, Richard von Weizsäcker, Michael R. Bloomberg, Helmut Kohl, George P. Shultz, Ewald-Heinrich von Kleist (posthumous), James A. Baker III, Giorgio Napolitano, Hans-Dietrich Genscher, Samantha Power, Wolfgang Schäuble, John McCain, Angela Merkel, James N. Mattis, Frank-Walter Steinmeier, Jens Stoltenberg, and, in 2025, Kaja Kallas, Evika Silina, and Ingrida Šimonyte. The Henry A. Kissinger prize statue is designed and produced by sculptor Gabriela von Habsburg.