The statutes stated: "The Hanns Eisler Prize shall be awarded for new compositions and musicological works which make outstanding contributions to the socialist musical culture of the GDR".
Among the first prize winners in 1968 were Peter Dorn, Gerhard Rosenfeld and Ruth Zechlin.
The composers Reinhard Pfundt, Gerhard Rosenfeld and Udo Zimmermann each received two awards.
In 1990 and 1991, the prize was awarded by the Deutschlandsender Kultur, most recently to Klaus Martin Kopitz and Hans Tutschku.
Distinguished by Radio DDR 2: Awarded by Deutschlandsender Kultur: