Wolfgang Metzger Award

Wolfgang Metzger Prize The prize is named after Wolfgang Metzger, a student of Max Wertheimer and the leading representative of the second generation of the Berlin School of Gestalt psychology.

metzger award

The Prize

The International Society for Gestalt Theory and its Applications (GTA) awards a prize for a scientifically inspired work based on Gestalt theory every two years. The award includes a cash prize of €1,000.

The prize is named after Wolfgang Metzger, a student of Max Wertheimer. Metzger was one of the leading representatives of the second generation of the Berlin Gestalt school and honorary chairman of the GTA.

Since 1999, the Wolfgang-Metzger-Prize has been awarded by the GTA Board based on an international public competition and a review and evaluation of the submitted works by an international scientific prize committee.

Purpose of the competition
The Wolfgang-Metzger-Prize serves to promote science in research and application based on Gestalt theoretical principles.

Prize Winner / Who can apply?

Applicants for the Metzger Prize must submit a scientific paper (in German or English) that is inspired by Gestalt theory.

The paper must contribute to the exploration or application of Gestalt theory in the natural sciences, humanities, social sciences, economics, or other fields. The paper can address a topic from psychology, philosophy, pedagogy, medicine, art, architecture, literary studies, musicology, or any other research or application area, as long as it is based on a Gestalt theoretical approach.

Prize Committee and Criteria

The Metzger Prize jury consists of at least five internationally renowned scientists as reviewers.

Members of the Prize Committee 2024 were: Hellmuth Metz-Göckel (Dortmund/FRG; Chairman), Geert-Jan Boudewijnse (Montreal/Canada), Silvia Bonacchi (Warsaw/Poland), Serena Cattaruzza (Trieste, Italy), Cees van Leeuwen (Leuven/Belgium), Baingio Pinna (Sassari/Italy).

Criteria
In awarding the prize, the jury evaluates each submitted work based on:

Originality of the proposed research
Reference to Gestalt theoretical foundations
Extension of Gestalt theoretical assumptions in parts of psychology (e.g. psychotherapy) or social, humanities, natural, or economic sciences
Application of Gestalt theoretical assumptions to other areas such as schools, organizations, etc.
Discussion of Gestalt theoretical positions

The jury’s decisions and the final ranking are final and not subject to appeal.

Submission of Applications

Submissions for the Metzger Prize are accepted until the end of November of the previous year. The submission deadline for the next Wolfgang-Metzger-Prize is November 30, 2025.

The submission must be sent as a PDF document to the Metzger Prize Committee:
metzger-award@gestalttheory.net.

Procedure and Communication

Applicants will receive a confirmation of their submission.

After the reviewers’ votes have been received, applicants will be informed by the GTA Board whether they have been awarded the prize.

The winner of the first prize will receive €1,000 and will be invited as a speaker to the next international scientific congress of the GTA. The contribution will be published in the international multidisciplinary journal *Gestalt Theory* (https://content.sciendo.com/view/journals/gth/gth-overview.xml) in its submitted or an adapted form.

Wolfgang-Metzger Young Researcher Award

In addition to the main prize, the GTA awards a Young Researcher Prize to up to three applicants for student theses (e.g., Bachelor’s or Master’s theses) that have a connection to Gestalt theory. The works should be institutionally integrated, and an evaluation from a supervisor must also be provided. The GTA board members Prof. Dr. Hellmuth Metz-Göckel and Dr. Thomas Fuchs evaluate the submitted works. The awardees will be honored at the GTA conference during the main prize award ceremony and will receive a certificate. The conference fee will be waived; upon request, a travel allowance may be granted.

Metzger Award Winners Since 1987

In the first period of this prize, the award was granted by the decision of the GTA Board to outstanding personalities in Gestalt science and research for exceptional achievements. In this sense, the prize was awarded 1987 to Gaetano Kanizsa and Riccardo Luccio (Italy), 1989 to Gunnar Johansson (Sweden). Since 1999, the prize has been awarded every two or three years by the GTA Board based on an international public competition and a review and evaluation of the submitted works by an international scientific prize committee. The prize winners since 1999 are: 1999 Giovanni Bruno Vicario (Italy), and Yoshie Kiritani (Japan); 2002 Peter Ulric Tse (USA); 2005 Fredrik Sundqvist (Sweden); 2007 Cees van Leeuwen (NL/Japan); 2009 Baingio Pinna (Italy); 2011 (the prize was not awarded this year) 2013 Johan Wagemans (Belgium), and Tom Steinert (Germany); 2015 Jan J. Koenderink (Belgium/Netherlands); 2017 Karen Brüning (Germany); 2019 Michael W. Stadler (Austria), and Dirk Paul Bogner (Germany) 2022 Mauro Antonelli (Italy)

Wolfgang Metzger

(* July 22, 1899 + December 20, 1979)
1978: Honorary Chairman of the Society for Gestalt Theory and its Applications)

Sources on his life and work

Wolfgang Metzger. In: Pongratz, L.J., Traxel, W. and Wehner, T. (eds.): Psychology in Self-Representations, Vol. 1. Bern/Stuttgart/Vienna: Huber 1972, 192–230.
G. Kanizsa: Attualità dell’opera di Metzger. In: Metzger, W., The Foundations of Gestalt Psychology. Florence: Giunti Barbera 1971, VII–XXVIII.
G. Galli (ed.): The Thought and Work of Wolfgang Metzger. Annals of the Faculty of Arts and Philosophy, University of Macerata 17, 1984, 125–193.
M. Stadler: The Fate of Non-Emigrated Gestalt Psychologists in National Socialism. In: Graumann, C.F. (ed.): Psychology in National Socialism. Berlin: Springer 1985, 139–164.
M. Stadler: Wolfgang Metzger’s Contribution to General Psychology. Bremer Beiträge zur Psychologie 34, 1984.
Heinz L. Ansbacher: Wolfgang Metzger (1899-1979), Individual Psychology News Letter, Vol. 29, No. 3, 45–47.
Heinz Heckhausen: Wolfgang Metzger: 1899-1979, American Journal of Psychology 96, 1983, 567–571.
Obituary by E. Rausch: Wolfgang Metzger, Gestalt Theory, 2, 1980, pp. 129–132.
Obituary by M. Stadler: Wolfgang Metzger, Psychological Research, 42, 1980, 191–193.
Mitchell G. Ash (1995): Gestalt Psychology in German Culture 1890-1967. Holism and the Quest for Objectivity, Cambridge University Press [including the chapter Two students adept: Wolfgang Metzger and Kurt Gottschaldt, who critically assess the life and work of W. Metzger during the Nazi period in Germany; 342–361).
Michael Wertheimer (1997): On the Correspondence Between Wolfgang Metzger and Max Wertheimer 1929–1937, Gestalt Theory, 19 (4/1997), pp. 263–265.
Correspondence: Wolfgang Metzger – Max Wertheimer 1929–1937 (with preface by H.-J. Walter), Gestalt Theory, 20 (1/1998), pp. 3-47.
Hans-Jürgen P. Walter: A Scientist Who Stayed True – On the 100th Birthday of Wolfgang Metzger. Gestalt Theory, 21 (2/1999), pp. 78–99.
Giuseppe Galli & Gabriella Bartoli (2013): The Travels of Wolfgang Metzger to Italy. Presentation at the 18th Scientific Conference of the GTA at PH Karlsruhe, April 11–14, 2013

Creative Freedom
Gestalt Theory of the Living

Wolfgang Metzger’s Third Major Work
“Creative Freedom” Newly Published
Edited by Marianne Soff and Gerhard Stemberger

In addition to his “Psychology” and “Laws of Seeing,” “Creative Freedom” is considered Wolfgang Metzger’s third major work. The book was last published in its second edition in 1962 but had long been out of print. It has now been reissued in its third edition by Wolfgang Krammer Publishing, edited by Marianne Soff and Gerhard Stemberger: newly designed, with a foreword by Jürgen Kriz, editorial notes by Marianne Soff and Gerhard Stemberger, and two appendices that highlight the book’s relevance and fertility for education and teaching (written by Marianne Soff) as well as for the field of psychotherapy (written by Gerhard Stemberger).

ISBN-13: 978 3 901811 80 7
192 pages; Price 26.00 Euro

The book has been available since April 2022.
Available for order at www.oeagp.at