Aside from the main categories for Best Picture, Director and Screenplay most others from the inaugural edition have been short lived such as Film that promote democratic values due to the constant change of the awards constitution in the early years.

The Golden Bowl became the highest honour for Best Picture, however due to not being handed out for more than 17 years, the award was abolished in 1996.

[2] In the following years, other locations were chosen that were symbolic for the once divided city such as the Berlin Tempelhof Airport[3] or the Brandenburg Gate.

Mechthild Schmidt, Partner of HouseWorks digital media, New York about her 1999 design: "I wanted to symbolize motion.

Stylistically, I was looking for a timeless modern design as well as a historical reference to the first golden era of German film, the Art Deco in the 1920s.

Before the founding of the German Film Academy (Deutsche Filmakademie) in 2005 a single prize was awarded for the technical categories of cinematography, film editing, production design, art direction and musical score in the category "Outstanding Singular Achievement".

The academy replaces a much-criticised jury which was constituted according to the principle of political proportionality, and on which politicians and clergymen also sat.

The Best Film category features six nominees with the three most voted winning a bronze, silver and gold award respectively.