FBM) is the world's largest trade fair for books, based on the number of publishing companies represented.

[citation needed] It was eclipsed in 1632 by the Leipzig Book Fair during the Enlightenment as a consequence of political and cultural developments.

[citation needed] The Frankfurter Buchmesse is the world's largest trade fair for books, based on the number of publishing companies represented.

[citation needed] It is a critical marketing event for launching books and to facilitate the negotiation of the international sale of rights and licences.

[citation needed] Publishers, agents, booksellers, librarians, academics, illustrators, service providers, film producers, translators, professional and trade associations, institutions, artists, authors, antiquarians, software and multimedia suppliers all participate in the events.

[citation needed] The Peace Prize of the German Book Trade has been awarded at the fair each year since 1950 during a ceremony in the Frankfurter Paulskirche.

[citation needed] On the occasion of the 1980 Fair, Litprom was founded – the Society for the Promotion of African, Asian and Latin American Literature.

As a non profit association, it monitors literary trends and selects the best examples of creative writing from Africa, Asia and Latin America for translation into German.

It promotes them in Germany, Switzerland and Austria by encouraging contacts between authors and publishers from the Third World and those in German-speaking countries.

A special exhibition hall is set up for the guest country, and the major publishing houses are present at the fair.