THE AFRICAN COURIER. Reporting Africa and its Diaspora! The African Courier is an international magazine published in Germany to report on Africa and the Diaspora African experience. The first issue of the bimonthly magazine appeared on the newsstands on 15 February 1998. The African Courier is a communication forum for European-African political, economic and cultural exchanges, and a voice for Africa in Europe.
Berlin-based independent bookshop Buchhandlung InterKontinental has once again been awarded the coveted Deutscher Buchhandlungspreis for 2025, marking its third recognition (previously honoured in 2021 and 2023). The award, announced on Tuesday (10 January), underscores InterKontinental’s continuing influence in Germany’s cultural and literary landscape.
Located in the heart of Berlin’s district of Friedrichshain, InterKontinental has built a unique reputation as Germany’s only bookstore exclusively dedicated to African and Afro-diasporic literature. The bookshop is owned by InterKontinental Verlag, the publishing arm of the Berlin-based literary agency InterKontinental, organisers of the African Book Festival Berlin. The shop therefore doubles as a cultural hub where Berlin’s global literary community finds both texts and conversations often absent in mainstream German bookselling.
Reacting to the news, the management described their feelings as mixed. While welcoming the recognition as a major honour, they also pointed to the exceptionally high quality of this year’s contenders. “By now it is widely known how much commitment and passion independent bookshops invest in their work—and under what economic conditions,” said co-owner Stefanie Hirsbrunner, who is also a co-initiator of the Berlin network of independent bookstores, IG Indie-Buchläden Berlin.
Beyond celebration, InterKontinental used the moment to make a broader cultural-policy appeal. According to the team, literary prizes in Germany should once again function primarily as genuine recognition rather than financial lifelines. “Authors sometimes react with desperation at award ceremonies because they urgently depend on the prize money,” the management noted, adding that independent bookshops face similar pressures.
The renewed award is therefore not only a vote of confidence in InterKontinental’s work, but also an opportunity to call for more reliable structural support, long-term funding mechanisms and sustainable appreciation of cultural labor—especially in an era when rising costs and market concentration continue to challenge independent cultural spaces.
Contact:
Buchhandlung InterKontinental
Sonntagstr. 26, 10245 Berlin
+49 30 58 73 94 61
https://www.interkontinental.org/
