The people’s favourite golden hen award was first established in 1995 to commemorate the great entertainer, comedienne and singer Helga Hahnemann, who died of cancer in November 1991. Her adoring fans nicknamed her “chicken”, hence the choice of a bronze statue depicting a hen for this prize. The sculpture designed by Berlin artist Christian Bonnet weighs in at 3.5 kilograms and is 22 centimetres in height. Previous winners have included Hans Dietrich Genscher, Mikhail Gorbachev, Günther Jauch, Carmen Nebel, Rudi Völler and Isabell Werth.