Awards
The GRK extends its warmest congratulations to its alumni on their awards and prizes!
Martin Berger receives the 2026 Balthasar Fischer Prize
Martin Berger is being honoured for his doctoral thesis ‘Der Ritus chori maioris ecclesiae Ratisponensis 1571’, which was written as part of the DFG Research Training Group ‘Metropolitanism in the Pre-Modern Era’ at the University of Regensburg under the supervision of Prof. Dr Harald Buchinger. The doctoral thesis was awarded a ‘summa cum laude’ by the Faculty of Catholic Theology in June 2024.
The thesis provides a complete edition and a detailed commentary on the *Liber ordinarius* from 1571. In addition to transcribing the source text, Dr Berger’s analysis sheds light on the development of cathedral liturgy from the late Middle Ages to the early modern period. Particular emphasis is placed on the influences of social, political and cultural upheavals during this era of reform.
Dr Martin Berger, born in 1996, studied Theology (Mag. Theol.) and Medieval Cultural History (M.A.) at the University of Regensburg. Since March 2025, he has been a postdoctoral research fellow in the Department of Liturgical Studies and Sacramental Theology at the University of Vienna.
The Balthasar Fischer Prize, which has been awarded since 2004, comes with a cash prize of 3,000 euros.
The award ceremony will take place on 3 September 2026 as part of the conference of the Working Group of Catholic Liturgists (AKL) in Frankfurt/Sankt Georgen.
Deutsches Liturgisches Institut (external link, opens in a new window)
Pressemitteilung zum Download (opens in a new window). (This PDF is not accessible)
City of Regensburg University Award for Dr Martin Berger
On 15 November 2025, Dr Martin Berger will be awarded the City of Regensburg University Award for his doctoral thesis, written at the GRK, entitled “Der Ritus chori maioris ecclesiae Ratisponensis 1571 (Regensburg, BZB, Ch 144). Edition and Commentary” (supervised by Prof. Dr Harald Buchinger), which he completed at the GRK.
[2025]
Georg R. Schroubek Young Talent Award for Filip Schuffert’s Master’s thesis
[2024]
Grand Prize of the Ambassador of the Republic of Poland’s Academic Award for Filip Schuffert
Grand Prize of the Ambassador of the Republic of Poland’s Academic Award, under the patronage of the Polish Academy of Sciences, for the year 2022/2023 in the Master’s thesis category.
[2024]
Christian-Gottlieb-Gumpelzhaimer Prize for Dr Martin Berger
On 26 July 2023, Martin Berger was awarded the Christian-Gottlieb-Gumpelzhaimer Prize by the Historical Society for the Upper Palatinate and Regensburg (HVOR).
Berger received the prize for his final thesis in ‘Cultural-Historical Medieval Studies’. His thesis, ‘On the Liturgy of the Adventus of Kings and Emperors: The Entry of Charles V into Regensburg in 1532 against the Background of the History of Ceremonial Rites’, concludes with a transcription and analysis of liturgical sources and contemporary accounts of Charles V’s Adventus in Regensburg, as well as an overview of the history of reception liturgies from antiquity to the late Middle Ages, his work fills a gap in research on late medieval royal processions and also offers numerous points of reference for further interdisciplinary studies.
[2023]
Doctoral Award from the Friends of the Faculty of Catholic Theology to Father Innocent Smith OP
[2022]
Doctoral Award from the Friends of the Faculty of Catholic Theology to Dr Gregory Tucker
[2022]
Ernst Herzfeld Award for Master’s Theses in Islamic Art History and Archaeology for Franziska Schneider
The Ernst Herzfeld Society for Islamic Art and Archaeology (external link, opens in a new window) has awarded GRK member Franziska Schneider the Ernst Herzfeld Award for Master’s Theses in Islamic Art History and Archaeology for her Master’s thesis entitled “Rediscovering the Local Heritage – Zeyneb Sultan Mosque and the Chalkoprateia Church in Constantinople”. This prestigious prize for early-career researchers in the field of visual and material culture of Islamic regions is accompanied by a travel grant to attend the annual colloquium of the Ernst Herzfeld Society and the publication of the thesis in the series “Beiträge zur Islamischen Kunst und Archäologie (BIKA)”.
[2020]
A.I.E.O. 2020 Peter T. Ricketts Prize awarded to Dr Kathrin Kraller
Dr Kathrin Kraller, who completed her doctoral studies in 2019 within the RTG 2337 ‘Pre-modern Metropolitanism’ with the distinction ‘summa cum laude’, has been awarded the 2020 Peter T. Ricketts Prize by the Association Internationale d’Études Occitanes (A.I.E.O.) for her study, published by the University Press, entitled ‘Linguistic History as a History of Communication: Medieval Notarial Deeds in the Vernacular in their Contexts. With an Analysis of the Occitan Language of Documents and Orthography”, published by the University Press.
The academic society, which has existed since 1981, is dedicated to the interdisciplinary study of issues relating to the Occitan and Franco-Provençal regions. The prize is awarded in memory of the founding president of the A.I.E.O., the British philologist Peter T. Ricketts (1933–2013), for outstanding research achievements in the field of Occitan studies across all disciplines of the social sciences and humanities.
[2020]
Max Weber Prize from the Bavarian Academy of Sciences and Humanities awarded to Dr Kathrin Kraller
With the Max Weber Prize, the Bavarian Academy of Sciences honours outstanding doctoral theses and postdoctoral theses in the humanities and social sciences. In 2019, Kathrin Kraller, who in 2019 successfully defended (summa cum laude) her doctoral thesis (external link, opens in a new window) within the framework of GRK 2337 “Pre-modern Metropolitanism”, was awarded this prestigious academic prize; the GRK extends its warmest congratulations!
[2019]
2018/19 Teaching Award from the University of Education, Freiburg, for Julian Zimmermann
[2019]
Maximiliana Kocher Foundation Award presented at the Catholic University of Eichstätt-Ingolstadt to Dr Maria Weber
[2017]