The award, founded as the Adolf-Grimme-Preis in 1964,[1] is named after the first general director of Nordwestdeutscher Rundfunk, Adolf Grimme.

[2] The award was endowed by the German Community College association and is granted to productions "that use the specific possibilities of the medium of television in an extraordinary manner and at the same time can serve as examples regarding content and method".

[1][3] One of the first award winners was Gerd Oelschlegel [de] in 1964, for his TV movie Sonderurlaub, about a failed escape from the German Democratic Republic.

[5] By 2014, German veteran director Dominik Graf had received ten awards for his various films.

[6] Danish director Lars von Trier was awarded a Grimme-Preis in 1996 for his miniseries The Kingdom.