The audience has decided: Zartmann receives the BAMBI award in the "Music Act of the Year"– Audience category for his honest and melancholic songs about growing up in the big city.
Paul Ronzheimer, global reporter for Axel Springer and deputy editor-in-chief of BILD, has just been awarded the BAMBI 2025 in the “Culture” category for his podcast “RONZHEIMER.” Hubert Burda Media is thus honouring a journalist who not only inspires an audience of millions, but also makes an important contribution to political education. Paul Ronzheimer impressively demonstrates how podcasts as a cultural medium can inspire, inform and unite people – journalism at the cutting edge for a changing world.
“Not so long ago, we had no idea how wonderful, intense, insightful and extraordinarily gripping listening can be. Today, podcasts are a natural part of the lives of millions of listeners. It's incredible what ideas and formats have been developed in recent years – with such journalistic drive in all genres of our time. There’s hardly a day when I don’t tune in to Paul Ronzheimer’s conversations with all the greats, the knowledgeable and the powerful in politics. Good podcasts educate, make people smarter, give them food for thought, information and new perspectives on our complicated world. And in the best case, they combine this kind of education with great entertainment."
Franziska Reich, editor-in-chief of Focus & BAMBI jury member
Paul Ronzheimer is one of Germany's best-known reporters and was named Journalist of the Year in 2022 for his reporting from Ukraine. Together with Filipp Piatov, deputy head of politics at BILD, who regularly analyses political issues and provides editorial support for the format, Paul Ronzheimer has developed a podcast that makes complex political topics understandable. Supported by experts from journalism, politics, business and science, he succeeds in taking listeners directly to the scenes of world events – whether it’s the Trump–Putin summit in Alaska, reports from Tel Aviv on the Israel–Iran conflict, or the front lines of the war in Ukraine.
His reporting is characterised by a unique blend of journalistic precision and personal proximity. Paul Ronzheimer takes his audience to the front lines, to presidential palaces or even into taxis, where he sometimes records his episodes. In doing so, he lets listeners participate in his work, explains his approach as a reporter and reflects openly on the challenges of his profession.
Ronzheimer's approach is noteworthy: he makes no secret of his stance, but attaches great importance to presenting different perspectives and opinions. In this way, he enables his listeners to form a well-founded picture of the situation – an approach that is invaluable in an increasingly polarised world.
This year's eagerly awaited announcement of the winner in the “Culture” category came with a surprise: Amazon's “Alexa” personally introduced all the nominees in a stage talk with host Michelle Hunziker, thus becoming part of the BAMBI Awards. By integrating Alexa, BAMBI underscores the importance of audio storytelling as a cultural medium that touches and connects people. Every day, Alexa informs, inspires and entertains millions of customers in Germany – and podcasts play an important role in this.
The BAMBI Awards ceremony is being broadcast live from Bavaria Studios – free on Prime Video for the first time. All Amazon customers are able to stream BAMBI without a Prime membership.
Since 1948, BAMBI has honoured personalities who touch Germany, achieve something special, and serve as role models. As a journalistic platform, BAMBI takes responsibility for society and makes the messages of the award winners visible – emotionally, profoundly, and digitally. This year, the award is being presented in more than 12 categories.
For the third time in a row, the BAMBI awards ceremony is taking place in Munich, sponsored by the Bavarian State Chancellery. Streaming service Prime Video is once again broadcasting the ceremony live as a media partner. As the official entertainment partner, the entertainment platform TikTok streamed the live broadcast from the red carpet. This year's official BAMBI partners are AIGNER, Chopard, Dr. Barbara Sturm, ELASTEN Trink-Kollagen, ELOTRANS reload, IhreApotheken.de, LLOYD, Schwarzkopf, and Yacht-Magazin. The ceremony is also supported by partners ANDECHSER NATUR, Augustiner-Bräu, Champagne Laurent-Perrier, Degussa, EDEKA, ipuro, JUVIA, L'Osteria, Nespresso, Staatl. Fachingen, and Südliche Weinstraße (Pfalz).
