Former prize winners

 Gerhard Steidl, Göttingen/Germany
 Printer and publisher with his own publishing house

 Alberto Manguel, Buenos Aires/Argentina
 Director of the National Library of Argentina and author

 Prof. Dr. Klaus-Dieter Lehmann, Berlin/Germany
 Cultural manager and librarian

2014

 Umberto Eco, Mailand/Italien
 Writer, philosoph and media scientist

2012

 Elizabeth L. Eisenstein, Washington D.C./USA
 Historian

2010

 Mahendra Patel, Ahmedabad/Indien
 Indian typeface designer and professor of typography

2008

 Michael Knoche, Weimar/Deutschland
 Director of the Duchess Anna Amalia Library / Foundation Weimar Classic

2006

 Hubert Wolf, Münster/Deutschland
 Professor of Medieval and Modern Church History

2004

 Robert Darnton, New York/USA
 Historian and cultural scientist

2002

 Otto Rohse, Hamburg/Deutschland
 Typographer, book designer, wood engraver and engraver, publisher of the Otto-Rohse-Presse

2000

 Joseph M. Jacobson, Cambridge/USA
 Inventor and technologist

1998

 Henri-Jean Martin, Paris/Frankreich
 Book Historian

1996

 John G. Dreyfus, London/Großbritannien
 Typographer and book historian

1994

 Paul Brainerd, Seattle/USA
 Pioneer of desktop publishing technology

1992

 Ricardo José Vicent Museros, Valencia/Spanien
 Printer, publisher and founder of the first Spanish Print Museum

1989

 Lotte Hellinga-Querido, London/Großbritannien
 Incunabula researcher

1986

 Adrian Frutiger, Bremgarten-Bern/Schweiz
 Calligrapher

1983

 Gerrit Willem Ovink, Amsterdam/Niederlande
 Professor of History and Aesthetics of Printing Art

1980

 Helmuth Lehmann-Haupt, Columbia, MO/USA
 Book historian and university professor

1977

 Rudolf Hell, Kiel/Deutschland
 Inventor and technologist

1974

 Hermann Zapf, Darmstadt/Deutschland
 Typgrapher and book designer

1971

 Henri Friedländer, Jerusalem/Israel
 Typographer

1968

 Giovanni Mardersteig, Verona/Italien
 Printer, font and book designer