Debattierclub Bonn won the Schobbe Cup 2010! In the final round, the team “Die Kinder vom Bahnhof Zoo” from Berlin Debating Union in the proposition argued with “Bonn Generations” about net neutrality at Campus Westend of Frankfurt Goethe University. The team of Isabelle Loewe,  Gudrun Lux and Jens Fischer from the former German capital defeated Georg Sommerfeld, Dessislava Kirova and Kai Dietmann from the now capital.

Awarded the title as best speaker of the final were two: Jens Fischer from the winning team and Nicolas Eberle from Debattierclub Johannes Gutenberg of Mainz, a so-called Fraktionsfreier Redner, free speaker. There are usually three such free speakers in a debate of OPD (Offene Parlamentarische Debatte, open parliamentary debate) where they mirror the public. Hence, free means that they are not a priori associated to one of the parties but they choose sides in the course of the debate. Also among the free speakers were Florian Umscheid from Wortgefechte Potsdam and Severin Weingarten from Debattiergesellschaft Jena. Judges of the final round of Schobbe Cup 2010 were Pauline Leopold (Tübingen), Florian Prischl (Wien), Thore Wojke, Caroline Moll (both Mainz) and Gregor Steinhagen (Braunschweig), presiding over the debate was Nils Zimmermann (Frankfurt).

The motions:

• Round 1: Should tobacco advertising be allowed unconditionally?
• Round 2: Does Germany need plebiscite on federal level?
• Round 3: Should singles over thirty be obliged into partner finding services?
• Semis: Do we need an EU-wide asylum law?
• Final: Should we give up the idea of net neutrality?

Frankfurter Debattierclub Goethes Faust hosted the Schobbe Cup for the second time. Fifteen teams from thirteen debating societies from all over Germany came to Frankfurt Campus Westend to compete for the title. Style of debate was OPD (open parliamentary debate), a well spread German format. Saturday saw three pre-rounds, while Sunday staged the semis (Bonn vs. Mainz and Berlin vs. Jena). Schobbe tournaments are a Hessian tradition where in friendly sports competitions the participants are catered with the typical cider, called schobbe or ebbelwoi. Of course, there was no lack of a good supply of ebbelwoi at this tournament!

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