German School Award 2026 Goes to Comprehensive School in Hesse

• Robert Bosch Stiftung and Heidehof Stiftung present Germany’s most prestigious award for schools for the twentieth time.
• Federal Chancellor Friedrich Merz presents the top award in Berlin to a school in Hesse participating in the Startchancen program.
• Additional Jury Award for Social Cohesion goes to a comprehensive school in Hamburg.

Berlin, September 29, 2026 – Bertha-von-Suttner-Schule in Mörfelden-Walldorf, Hesse, has won the 2026 German School Award, worth €100,000. Five additional awards of €30,000 each go to Ferdinand-von-Steinbeis-Schule in Tuttlingen, Baden-Württemberg; Hans-Leipelt-Schule Donauwörth in Bavaria; Georg-Christoph-Lichtenberg-Oberstufengymnasium in Bruchköbel, Hesse; Oberschule Berenbostel in Garbsen, Lower Saxony; and Staatliche Grundschule Tannroda in Thuringia. An additional Jury Award for Social Cohesion, also worth €30,000, goes to Stadtteilschule Wilhelmsburg in Hamburg. The remaining finalists each receive a €5,000 recognition award.

This year marks the twentieth time that Robert Bosch Stiftung GmbH and Heidehof Stiftung GmbH have honored Germany’s best schools with the German School Award. ARD and the ZEIT Publishing Group are partners in the initiative.

Federal Chancellor Friedrich Merz presented the top award today at Studio Berlin in Adlershof: “There are many excellent schools in our country with innovative ideas, dedicated teachers, and curious students. Schools characterized by enthusiasm and optimism. Schools that successfully respond to social change. Schools that nurture every talent. The German School Award shows just how many outstanding schools there are.”

With more than 2,000 students, Bertha-von-Suttner-Schule in Mörfelden-Walldorf is one of Germany’s largest comprehensive schools. To continuously improve the quality of its teaching, the school relies on a clear structure reminiscent of a business organization: Dedicated departments systematically develop its core product, teaching. Their work is informed by systematically analyzed data that guides educational decisions. This clear structure is complemented by a strong focus on personal support: Designated “house leaders” serve as consistent points of contact for students, giving them a sense of belonging on the school’s sprawling campus. “Bertha-von-Suttner-Schule demonstrates how effectively a well-designed concept and personal support can work together. Nothing here is left to chance,” says Prof. Dr. Thorsten Bohl, spokesperson for the German School Award jury and Director of the Tübingen School of Education.

What began 20 years ago as an initiative to save the school’s upper-secondary program has become a model for educational equity across Germany. Bertha-von-Suttner-Schule participates in the Startchancen program, which specifically supports schools serving socioeconomically disadvantaged communities. Although only 15 percent of students arrive with a recommendation for Gymnasium, Germany’s academically oriented secondary school track, two-thirds ultimately earn the Abitur, the qualification for university admission. “This school powerfully demonstrates that achievement and well-being are not mutually exclusive. Here, rigorous teaching and a culture of community go hand in hand, ensuring that no student leaves school without prospects for the future. That is an important message for schools across Germany,” says education researcher Bohl.

“The German School Award changes the education system not through the trophies it presents, but through the momentum it creates,” says Dr. Bernhard Straub, CEO of Robert Bosch Stiftung GmbH. “The success of 20 years of the German School Award therefore cannot be measured solely by the 123 schools that have received awards, but also by all those that have drawn inspiration from them,” Straub says.

The initiative is deliberately designed to make an impact beyond the award itself. With the German School Portal, the Foundation has created one of the largest platforms for school development in the German-speaking world. More than 100,000 users visit the platform each month to access information and exchange ideas. To date, around 2,700 educators have taken part in the nationwide school observation program, visiting successful schools to learn about effective approaches firsthand and adapt them for their own practice.

“The German School Award has always been a seismograph for the challenges currently facing our schools,” Straub emphasizes. Today in particular, schools must be places where children and young people experience how life together in a democratic society can succeed. It is where they learn to navigate conflicts constructively and see diversity as an opportunity. “That is why we were pleased to take up the jury’s suggestion and introduce an award for social cohesion in this anniversary year.”

The €30,000 Jury Award for Social Cohesion goes to Stadtteilschule Wilhelmsburg in Hamburg. In particular, the jury recognizes the school’s exemplary approach to diversity, its consistent engagement with the surrounding community, and its successful commitment to greater educational equity.