Change in the adjudication panel: Bernd Hoefer will replace Isabelle Loewe, currently vice-presidentof Deutsche Debattiergesellschaft (DDG), the German alumni debating society. Bernd really is an old stager on the German language debating circuit: He was a runner-up at the German debating championship in 2002, vice-president of the then newly founded Association of Debating Societies at Universities (Verband der Debattierclubs an Hochschulen, VDCH) and sat in numerous panels as final judge and was chief adjudicator at tournaments of the renowned series ZEIT DEBATTEN, among them the German debating championship in 2004. Benedikt Nufer, currently VDCH president, is going to support him on the adjudication core. Convenor of the alumni debating tourney is Stefan Hübner, another vice-president on the executive board of DDG. Participation as a speaker is open to those having been awarded the up-and-coming prize and the winners of the German debating championship – and of course the members of DDG.

The Masters’ Cup is the annual tournament which is staged at Eisenach since 2005. The venue for the final is the ballroom at the world heritage site Wartburg. The Masters’ style was specifically developed for the Masters’ Cup where teams will be allocated by drawing lots. In teams of two, every speaker gets a time of seven minutes. The jurors judge content, strategy and method equally. As speakers, all members of DDG as well as those awarded the DDG prize for the best junior speaker are welcome, while as judges, debaters from all societies are accepted. An overview over the past Masters’ Cups can be found on the DDG homepage.

The Masters’ Cup is the annual tournament, which is taking place in Eisenach since 2005. The venue for the final is the ballroom at the world heritage site Wartburg. The Masters’ style was specifically developed for the Masters’ Cup where teams will be allocated by drawing lots. In teams of two, every speaker gets a time of seven minutes. The adjudicators judge content, strategy and method equally. Chief adjudicators are traditionally the president of VDCH (Association of German and German speaking Debating Societies at Universities) and one member of the executive board of DDG. As speakers, all members of DDG as well as those awarded the DDG prize for the best junior speaker are welcome, while as judges, debaters from all societies are accepted. Jens Fischer won last year’s Masters’ Cup. An overview over the past Masters’ Cups can be found on the DDG homepage.