Deutscher Kleinkunstpreis 2026 — Gala Event

Mainz, alongside Munich, Cologne, and Berlin, is one of Germany's most important cabaret cities. The Mainz Forum-Theater unterhaus, founded in 1966, is one of Germany's most traditional cabaret stages and has been a central platform for political cabaret, chanson, literary variety, and a wide spectrum of cabaret formats for decades. From this tradition, the unterhaus established the Deutscher Kleinkunstpreis in 1972 — today the most important and prestigious cabaret award in Germany and a significant career milestone for German cabaret artists, chanson singers, variety performers, and songwriters.

The award is presented in several categories: Kabarett (cabaret), Chanson, Kleinkunst (variety/performance art), and Sonderpreise (special awards, often grants, honorary, or program awards). A renowned jury from the cabaret and theater scene, journalism, and the event industry makes the selection. The list of award winners over the past 50+ years reads like a who's who of German cabaret and variety history: Hanns Dieter Hüsch, Lisa Fitz, Bruno Jonas, Hagen Rether, Sebastian Pufpaff, Sissi Perlinger, Pigor & Eichhorn — many names prominent today began their careers with the Deutscher Kleinkunstpreis.

The annual gala event at the Frankfurter Hof in Mainz is the highlight of the award year. The hall brings together the award winners, jury members, prominent guests from cabaret, media, and politics, as well as an interested audience. The gala combines award ceremonies with live performances by the awardees, allowing the audience to get an immediate impression of the honored artists. The 2026 host is Tobias Mann — one of Mainz's best-known cabaret artists, long associated with the Mainz Forum-Theater, and himself a recipient of the Deutscher Kleinkunstpreis (Kabarett category, 2009).

The public dress rehearsal in the afternoon at 3 PM is a Mainz classic: cabaret fans use it to experience the show in a more open, relaxed atmosphere, often with longer programs and breaks where the artists are closer to the audience. The main gala at 8 PM is the more formal festive evening, which is recorded for the 3sat broadcast on Sunday, March 22, 2026. This allows the Deutscher Kleinkunstpreis to reach a broad supra-regional audience and makes Mainz's cabaret tradition visible to millions.