After her death in 1879, the award was continued by a donation to the Austrian Academy of Sciences.
[1] Until 1971, the prize was presented every three years to "das relativ beste deutsche dramatische Werk, das im Lauf der letzten 3 Jahre auf einer namhaften Bühne zur Aufführung gelangte und nicht schon vorher von anderer Seite durch einen Preis ausgezeichnet worden ist" ("the relatively best German dramatic work, which has been performed on a well-known stage during the last three years and has not been awarded a prize by another group").
In 1914, the prize was going to be given to Arthur Schnitzler for Professor Bernhardi, but the ceremony was cancelled following objections made by the philosopher, Friedrich Jodl.
[2] The ceremonies were held under the auspices of the local Reichsgau and presided over by the Gauleiter and Reichsstatthalter, Baldur von Schirach.
The Minister of Culture, Erhard Busek, also refused to reinstate the Prize, citing lack of funds.