Distinguished guests,
Professor Füssel,

Mainz has always known how to perfectly blend tradition and innovation—and, thanks to many brilliant minds, to generate ideas that change the world.
It is therefore hardly surprising that Mainz can boast a number of superlatives:

• We were recently named the most up-and-coming city of the future nationwide
• We have been named the most dynamic city for the third time in a row
• Innovative medicine from Mainz has saved the world during the COVID-19 pandemic
• Unique innovations from Lerchenberg are currently being used in monitoring stations in rivers around the world
• The world’s largest Bible page was printed here.

I could go on forever with superlatives; I would also have liked to say something about our 05ers’ magnificent international soccer until last week, but I’d rather get to the point now: The superlative of all time from Mainz, however, is: Our “Man of the Millennium,” Johannes Gutenberg.

And if there is one name in our city—and, incidentally, far beyond, even worldwide—that can be mentioned in the same breath as Johannes Gutenberg, it is Prof. Dr. Stephan Füssel.

In you, Professor Füssel, Mainz has an internationally renowned expert who, like no other, is deeply knowledgeable about Gutenberg, his work, the historical research surrounding it, and its impact on our time.

Throughout your academic career, you have not only significantly shaped book studies in Mainz and helped bring it international renown, but you have also strengthened the connection between the university, the city, and society.

As a member of the Presidium and Executive Board of the International Gutenberg Society, you have been a valued colleague and advisor for decades, a driving force for innovation and an initiator of contemporary approaches to Gutenberg’s legacy. I would like to express my sincere thanks to the selection committee for this year’s choice of the recipient of the Mainz Media Prize! A successful choice.

For today we honor a Mainz-based scholar and deeply committed citizen who acts as a bridge-builder between the past and the present, as a mediator of knowledge and culture, and who, as a critical thinker, consistently places the responsibility of the media in our society at the center of his work.

We will certainly hear a multitude of superlatives about his work and achievements in the laudatory speech shortly.

I hereby extend my heartfelt congratulations to Prof. Dr. Stephan Füssel—coupled with the utmost respect for his life’s work and his contributions to our city.

In you, dear Prof. Füssel, our city has found an ambassador for its cultural identity: the very best ambassador.