Eye-catcher in Cologne: Anna Kühlein wins the German Television Award 2025!

Eye-catcher in Cologne: Anna Kühlein wins the German Television Award 2025!

The award ceremony for the 25th German Television Prize took place in Cologne on August 19, 2025, an important event to honor outstanding achievements in the 2023/24 television year. The award's main themes included fiction, entertainment, information and sport. Jury chairman Wolf Bauer highlighted the diversity and quality of the nominated programs and emphasized the importance of the award for the German television landscape.

Particular focus was on the award for “Best Music Fiction”, which was given to the composer Anna Kühlein for her work on the series “What we fear” (ZDFneo / Bavaria Fiction). This honor is not only a personal confirmation for Kühlein, but also a sign of the creative power and innovative ability of young artists in German film. Her work impressed the jury because of the delicate variety and the innovative stylistic confidence that she incorporates into her compositions.

Anna Kühlein: A promising composer

Anna Kühlein, who works in Leipzig and Berlin, has long since made a name for herself. Her music is characterized by empathy and reflects the different stories for which she creates compositions. She has worked in a variety of genres, from drama and thrillers to science fiction and arthouse films. Kühlein, who received her master's degree in film music from the Babelsberg KONRAD WOLF Film University in 2020, combines classical and acoustic instruments with synthetic sounds and often experiments with unconventional sounds and field recordings.

Her previous work includes the film music for Doris Dörrie's “Freibad” and for the arthouse film “Sechswochenamt” by Jaqueline Jansen. She has also taken part in important projects such as the series “Ku’damm 59” and the third season of the youth series “We are now”.

Award winners and nominations of the evening

In addition to Anna Kühlein, other film university graduates were also nominated for their work, including Dascha Dauenhauer and Liam Mour. Your nominations underline the high status that the Babelsberg Film University has in the German film and music scene.

In addition to Kühlein, the composer duo Max Filges and Christoph Schauer received the award for best music fiction for the SWR series “Höllgrund”. This award-winning series is set in the Black Forest and deals with mysterious deaths and the cliché of the good country doctor. The music, which uses the dulcimer as a central element, was praised for its ability to support the series' atmospheric density and capture the bizarre events in the village.

The distribution of the donors of the German Television Prize shows the broad support for this renowned event: ARD, Deutsche Telekom, RTL, ZDF and SAT.1 are involved. For the first time since 2023, streaming providers such as Disney+, Netflix and Prime Video will also benefit from a partnership, giving the price even greater reach and relevance.

The awarding of the German Television Prize is not only an important moment for the winners, but also a measurable sign of the development and influence of music on German television. The enthusiasm for the diversity of creative achievements is clearly noticeable and sets standards for future productions.

For further information about the German Television Award and the award winners, consult the articles from Film University, Anna Kühlein and SWR.