Night of the Lions: Weischer Honours Top Creative Talents

21 Cannes Lions, including three Gold Lions, and two Young Lions medals: Germany’s creative industry came together for the traditional “Night of the Lions” to celebrate the country’s most outstanding creative work of the year. At KINOPOLIS Hamburg, official German representative Weischer presented the coveted trophies. The evening also featured an exclusive pre-event with Simon Cook, CEO of LIONS, a moving tribute to the late creative leader Ricardo Wolff, and special recognition of Florian Weischer for 30 years of representing Cannes Lions in Germany.

Germany’s most outstanding advertising campaigns of the year took centre stage in Hamburg on Thursday evening as Weischer hosted its traditional “Night of the Lions”. The Hamburg-based company presented the prestigious Cannes Lions trophies to the country’s leading creative talent. At this year’s Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity, German work received a total of 21 Lions, including three Gold, three Silver and 15 Bronze Lions.

The most successful campaign of the year was “No Project Without Drama” by HeimatTBWA (Berlin) for Hornbach, which secured seven Lions: two Gold, three Silver and two Bronze. Germany’s next generation of creative talent also had reason to celebrate, with German teams winning one Silver and one Bronze medal in the Young Lions Competitions.

“Once again, German agencies have demonstrated the remarkable power of outstanding ideas. The winning work stands out not only for its creative excellence, but also for its ability to move people and open up new perspectives,” said Moritz Weischer, CMO of Weischer. “With the Night of the Lions, we celebrate these achievements and bring together the people whose ideas continue to drive our industry forward.”

The awards ceremony at KINOPOLIS Hamburg was once again hosted by Franziska Knoefel, Director Product Development at Weischer, and Moritz Weischer, who together presented the trophies to the winning agencies.

Florian Weischer, Co-Chairman of Weischer, also received special recognition during the evening. Thirty years ago, he laid the foundation for a partnership that continues to thrive today. In 1996, he convinced Roger Hatchuel, then head of the Cannes Lions Festival, to appoint Weischer as its official representative in Germany. Since then, Florian Weischer has been a driving force in supporting and connecting the German creative community. To mark this milestone, the Weischer team honoured his longstanding commitment and contribution to the Cannes Lions representation with a Lion of their own. Florian Weischer will also receive a Cannes Lion from the festival’s leadership in London.

Remembering Creative Visionary Ricardo Wolff

One of the evening’s most poignant moments was a tribute to the late Ricardo Wolff of INNOCEAN Berlin, one of Germany’s leading creative minds. His longtime friend and business partner Gabriel Mattar introduced a film produced by INNOCEAN, which was screened on the cinema’s big screen. Celebrating Wolff’s life and creative legacy, the film deeply moved the audience. The tribute was a powerful reminder of the lasting impact he made on Germany’s creative industry.

An Exclusive Exchange on the State of Creativity

Ahead of the awards ceremony, Weischer welcomed leading figures from the creative industry to an exclusive pre-event at Hamburg’s Puzzle Bar. At the heart of the event was a panel discussion entitled “Creativity that pays off! Really? How?”, featuring Simon Cook, CEO of LIONS, Maximilian Schöngen, Global CCO of Mediaplus, and Franziska Knoefel.

Bringing together different perspectives on the current state of the creative industry, the discussion provided an opportunity for the invited senior creatives to exchange ideas and insights, setting the stage for the awards ceremony that followed.