Questions about Frankfurter Buchmesse

Frankfurter Buchmesse stands for diversity and democratic exchange

Frankfurter Buchmesse is a meeting place for literature and culture enthusiasts, publishers, authors and people from culture and politics from all over the world. People from over 100 countries can meet here in peace and security. The Fair stands for diversity; it thrives on the diversity of its exhibitors and visitors and a democratic exchange at eye level in open dialogue. Frankfurter Buchmesse condemns all forms of right-wing extremism, anti-Semitism, racism and any kind of discrimination.

Frankfurter Buchmesse demonstrates its values through the thematic focuses it sets and the speakers it invites to its own curated stages and programmes. In 2022, these included the Opening Press Conference and Opening Ceremony, the Frankfurt Pavilion, the BOOKFEST, the Frankfurt Kids Conference: Transform Diversity, and the digital event series The Hof. For these programmes, the Book Fair invites speakers who address pressing social issues. In past years, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, Bernardine Evaristo, Wajdi Mouawad, Salman Rushdie, and Nobel Laureate Olga Tokarczuk, among others, have been invited to speak at curated events at the Book Fair.

Publishers, publishing service providers, organizations and companies book a stand or register with a Collective Exhibition.

Frankfurter Buchmesse is the largest leading international publishing fair. It therefore has a monopoly position, so that it is obligated under antitrust law to allow all publishers, service providers, organizations and companies that are not prohibited under German law to participate as exhibitors.

No, Frankfurter Buchmesse does not invite publishers to exhibit at the fair. Publishers, publishing service providers, organizations and companies book a stand or present at a Collective Exhibition.

Frankfurter Buchmesse condemns any form of political or religious extremism, racism and any form of discrimination. However, due to its monopoly position as the largest leading international publishing fair, Frankfurter Buchmesse is forced by antitrust law to admit as exhibitors all publishers, service providers, organizations and companies that are not prohibited under German law.

The Russian Federation's attack on Ukraine is contrary to international law. Thus, there is an objectively justified reason here to refuse a registration of the Russian national stand for Frankfurter Buchmesse. More information on the "Statement of Frankfurter Buchmesse on Russia's war in Ukraine" here.

This legal situation cannot be applied to right-wing publishers.

Due to its monopoly position as the largest leading international publishing fair, Frankfurter Buchmesse, for reasons of antitrust law, admit all international publishers, service providers, organizations and companies as exhibitors that are not prohibited under German law. Publishers who are denied registration could sue. At the same time, Frankfurter Buchmesse is a meeting place where people from over 100 countries - including non-democratic states - can meet each other in peace and security despite a tense world situation.

Frankfurter Buchmesse obliges its exhibitors through the terms & conditions of participation to only exhibit titles that comply with the applicable legal conditions.

See item 3.2 in our terms & conditions of participation: “Articles and products may only be exhibited which fulfil applicable legal requirements and which are not subject to the rights of third parties.”

See item 3.4 in our terms & conditions of participation: “It is not permitted to exhibit any works which have been banned from production, distribution or import by a court of law in the Federal Republic of Germany, or similarly in a court of law abroad, provided this judgement has been declared enforceable in a court of law in the Federal Republic of Germany.”

The conditions of participation can be found here:

We stand for appreciative and respectful cooperation at the Book Fair. Our rules for this are set out in the Frankfurter Buchmesse's Code of Conduct and our house rules.

Frankfurter Buchmesse curates the following formats, programmes and stages independently: Opening Press Conference and Opening Ceremony, Frankfurt Pavilion, BOOKFEST, the trade event Frankurt Kids Conference: Transform Diversity and the digital event series The Hof. 

Slots on the following stages and in these venues are not curated by the Frankfurter Buchmesse team, but can be booked by exhibitors and media partners: Frankfurt Studio, Congress Center and digital masterclass sessions. The same applies to events at trade fair stands and on the stages of media partners: these are not planned, staffed and carried out independently by the Book Fair team, but by the exhibitors. 

The security of our visitors and exhibitors is a top priority for us. In cooperation with Messe Frankfurt and the Frankfurt Police, Frankfurter Buchmesse draws up a comprehensive security concept every year. We ask for your understanding that we cannot present our security concept for the protection of our Fair participants in more detail here. 

We work closely with Messe Frankfurt's security service and the police. On all days of the fair, there will be an increased number of police officers on duty in the halls, both in plain clothes and in uniform, who will immediately follow up on any indication of threats. This ensures not only the safety of the general public, but also the protection of particularly endangered persons, politically persecuted authors, top international politicians and members of royal families at Frankfurter Buchmesse.

Together with the Börsenverein des Deutschen Buchhandels (German Publishers and Booksellers Association), Frankfurter Buchmesse stands up for writers and publishers who are persecuted because of their publications. In doing so, the Book Fair also wants to set an example for the freedom of the press and publication.  

For this reason, the Book Fair invites writers, journalists and activists persecuted in their home countries as speakers to give them a stage at the Book Fair and thus increase media attention. In the past, these have included Aslı Erdoğan, Can Dündar, and Joshua Wong.

One of Frankfurter Buchmesse's special concerns is to promote international exchange and democratic structures in publishing throughout the year. For this reason, Frankfurter Buchmesse has launched various international sponsorship programmes. These include the Invitation Programme, the Frankfurt Fellowship Programme, the Goldschmidt Programme, the Paris-Frankfurt Fellowship Programme, Frankfurt International Translators, Frankfurt International Booksellers and the Frankfurt Translators' Scholarship. 

Frankfurter Buchmesse promotes cross-border cultural exchange by organizing joint German stands at book fairs around the world each year. At these stands, which are sponsored by the German Federal Foreign Office, German-language literature and culture are showcased worldwide through exhibitions and programmes. In addition, the Collective Stands are also places where German-language and international publishing actors meet at eye level. 

Through the non-profit GmbH LitCam, Frankfurter Buchmesse is committed to ensuring that all children in Germany have equal educational opportunities, regardless of their social or material circumstances. 

Through the non-profit association Litprom, Frankfurter Buchmesse has been working for more than 40 years to make literary voices from Africa, Asia, Latin America and the Arab world known in the German-speaking world. To this end, Litprom connects cultural institutions and actors from publishing and organizes readings for them here in Germany.