The “Max und Moritz“ Gala in Erlangen’s baroque theatre (Friday, 27 May 2016) is the highlight of the Salon. The “Max und Moritz“ Award, presented by the City of Erlangen, is the most important award for graphic literature in the German-speaking area. It is awarded in different categories by an independent jury of professionals and plays a decisive role for the recognition of comic art in the German-speaking countries. The award recognizes the work of outstanding artists, acknowledges exemplary publishing and encourages the debate on graphic literature in general. In previous years the award for life­time achievement was presented to Albert Uderzo, Jacques Tardi, Alan Moore, Pierre Christin, Lorenzo Mattotti and Ralf König.

The "Max and Moritz" Award 2016 will be given out in the categories "Lifetime Achievement Award", "Best German-speaking Comic Artist" (5000 Euro endowment), "Best German-language Comic", "Best International Comic in German", "Best German-language Comic Strip", "Best Comic for Children", "Best Student Comic Publication" (1000 Euro endowment), "Special Jury Award" and "Audience Award".

You will find the Lifetime Achievement Award 2016, the Special Jury Awards and the titles nominated for the “Max und Moritz“ Award 2016 here.

The members of the jury 2016 are:
Christian Gasser (author, lecturer Hochschule Luzern – Design & Kunst), Brigitte Helbling (journalist, member of Arbeitsstelle für Graphische Literatur der Universität Hamburg), Andreas C. Knigge (journalist and publicist, Hamburg), Isabel Kreitz (comic-strip artist, Hamburg), Lars von Törne (journalist, Berlin), Christine Vogt (director Ludwiggalerie Schloss Oberhausen) and Bodo Birk (director Erlangen International Comic Salon).


“Max und Moritz“ Audience Award 2016

In 2016 the “Max und Moritz“ Audience Award will be presented for the fourth time. The voting, which takes place in three stages (1. Propose, 2. Nominate, 3. Vote), will end on 26 May 2016 at 7 p.m. It is organised online in collaboration with the internet platforms Comicforum, Animexx-Forum und Panini-Forum. The winner of the Audience Award will be announced together with the other laureates during the “Max und Moritz“ Award Ceremony on Friday 27 May 2016, 9 p.m. at the Erlangen Markgrafentheater. The audience has the opportunity to directly influence the list of nominations for the “Max und Moritz“ Award, by selecting three publications in the categories “Albums, Graphic Novels“,“American Comics“ and “Manga”.

Round 1: Propose – 1 until 14 March 2016
Proposals for the Audience Award can be made in the following three categories and have to be submitted on the corresponding internet platforms:
- for the category “Albums, Graphic Novels“ in the Comicforum Forum des Internationalen Comic-Salons Erlangen
- for the category “American Comics“ in the Panini-Forum and Comicforum Cross Cult-Forum and Popcom-Forum
- for the category “Manga“ in the Animexx-Forum and Comicforum Manga-Forum
Only one proposal or support of one already existing proposal per person is allowed in each forum. Legitimate proposals are all separate volumes or series (no editions), which have been released since April 2014 in German. The proposals will be listed by the moderator in the chronological order of their entry in the respective forum. In case of doubt (e.g. category classification) a decision will be reached among the organisers and the moderator.

Round 2: Nominate – 17 until 31 March 2016
The twenty proposals with the most supporters in each category will move forward to round 2. In case of equality of votes, the number of selected titles may be increased to avoid a run-off vote. For the selection procedure in round 2 a short list in alphabetical order will be generated – per person only one vote in each forum is allowed. The three titles with the most votes will become official nominations to be considered by the “Max und Moritz“ Jury for the “Max und Moritz“ Award (in early April 2016). In case of equality of votes, a run-off vote in the corresponding forum will take place at short notice. Interim results will not be published.

Round 3: Vote – until 26 May 2016, 7 p.m
The three titles nominated by the audience as well as the nominations of the “Max und Moritz“ Jury will be submitted to the final round of the Audience Award. The voting, which is taking place amongst others online on Comic-Salon-Forum will end on the evening of 26 May 2016 (first day of the 17th Erlangen International Comic Salon) at 7 p.m. For the online voting a registration is unnecessary. Per person one vote is allowed. The winner of the Audience Award will be announced during the “Max und Moritz“ Award Ceremony on Friday, 27 May 2016, 9 p.m. at the Erlangen Markgrafentheater.