Sorry, this post is only available in German. xzy / tr

The debating society klartext Halle has a new executive board. Jakob Eichner has been elected president, his deputies are Thomas Wach, Markus Loer, Philip Thiele and Julian Barnick. Congratulations and good luck with your work! xzy / tr

Registration is now possible until August 7 for the very first German women-only tournament. For more details, please refer to the German version. xzy / tr

News concerning the Boddencup 2011: The president of the Debattierclub Greifswald, Rafael Heinisch, announced the CAs for the BPS tournament that is to be held from July 22 to 24. Besides Rafael himself, Julian Schneider (Debattierclub Münster) and Markus Dankerl (Debattierclub München) are in charge of the motions. The reg fees for the Boddencup are 15 Euros for speakers and 10 Euros for judges, registration is possible until July 11 under heinischr@googlemail.com. xzy / tr

This article is not available in English. Please read the German version to learn more about the forthcoming Elbe Open 2011. xzy / tr

Debattiergesellschaft Jena elected a new executive board on June 21. Jonathan Scholbach is the new president, Sandrina Küppers his deputy and the treasurer is Robert Stendel. Congratulations and good luck with your work! xzy / tr

A lucky streak for the Berlin Debating Union (BDU): After winning the Potsdam PULS Punk, they managed to emerge as victors at the Training Tournament in Dortmund on 4 June. The opposition consisting of the WUDC 2013 convenor Patrcik Ehmann, Florian Umscheid and Manuel Adams defeated the government team from Potsdam with Jan-Dirk Capelle, Mathias Hamann and Jana Bachmann in the final. The topic was "Sex sells – is it legitimate to use sexual services to motivate employees and customers?" referring to a current sex scandal at a German insurance. The prelims topics thanks to the CAs Julian Schneider (Debattierclub ...

Berlin beats Berlin in the Potsdam PULS Punk final on the motion "Should all jobs be payed equally?". The opposition side with Annette Kirste, Emre Yildiz and Franz Müller (Berlin Debating Union) won the palm against the government speakers Kai Dittmann, Arne Windeler and Philipp Cragg (also BDU). The so-called free speakers in the final were Arash Alawi (BDU), Nikolai Badenkoop (Streitkultur Berlin) and Kai Nosbüsch (Debattierclub Stuttgart). Tournament style was the German open parliamentary debate (OPD). The CAs Nils Haneklaus (Debattierclub Stuttgart), Rafael Heinisch (S.A.E.C.L.O. Greifswald) and Christoph Krakowiak (Streitkultur Berlin) had th efollowing motion for the prelims up their sleeves: Round ...

It's because of the copyright: The former "The double Otto" tournament is going to take place as "Elbe Open" and is named after the River Elbe that flows through Magdeburg. Debattierclub Magdeburg shortly announced, the date remains 2 and 3 July. The convenors changend not only the name of the tournament, but also the style. Instead of the Open Parliamentary Debate (OPD) the style is now BPS with five prelims, semis and a final. Isabelle Loewe, Miriam Hauft and Torsten Rössing are certainly worthy of note. Isabelle is EUDC winner 2006 (ESL) and was one of the CAs at the Vienna IV ...

It's showtime: Debattierclub München invites passers-by to enjoy show debates at the open air culture festival "Corso Leopold" on June 5. From 4 to 6 p. m., current topics are going to be in the limelight in the Leopoldstraße in the city centre. xzy / tr

This article is not available in English, please read the German version of this article. ...

The first ever women-only tournament on German soil: It's going to take place in Jena from August 17 to 19. Please read more on the tournament in the German version of this article and join the fierce debate on positive and negative discrimination, the advantages/disadvantages of affirmative action and add to the ongoing discussion in the comment section below. xzy / apf

One week before the Berlin Humboldt IV, on July 2 and 3, the Debattierclub Magdeburg invites to a tournament whose name originally was supposed to be "The double Otto" – after Otto I, emperor of the Holy Roman Empire from 962 until his death in 973, and also Otto von Guericke, a German polymath and inventor of the air pump. However, a local beverage manufacturer recently released a same-named drink consisting of orange and herbal liquors. To avoid copyright infringement, the originally planned name was cancelled for the time being. Nevertheless, other basic information is already available. The style is OPD (open ...

This article is not available in English in full. Please read the German version of this article or look at the picture gallery by Manuel Adams!

This article is not available in English. Please read the German version to learn about how the prelims of this tourney were spread all over town - in shared flats.

Dessislava Kirova, convenor of the Berlin Humboldt IV 2011, announced the CA team of the tournament which will be hold July 8 to 10. CAs will be Simone van Elk, DCA of this year's WUDC in Galway, Ireland, and Filip Dobranic, current European champion (ESL). Patrick Ehmann, fifth best ESL speaker at the WUDC in Botsuana, will represent the host, the Berlin Debating Union (BDU). xzy / glx / apf

Beginners take note: The Wortgefechte Potsdam organises the Potsdam PULS Punk on 28 May. The tournament will be held in German and the OPD (open parliamentary debate) style that is widely spread in the German language debating circuit - but without the characteristic Free Speakers. "PULS" is the university course application system of the University of Potsdam. The university accepts the participation in debating where students can get credit points. After four prelims there is going to be a direct break into the final. Afterwards the participants may look forward to a relaxed and romantic evening at the Griebnitzsee, a lake in ...

The "Bodden" calling for the third time! 2009 was the first year when the Debattierclub Greifswald set up the tournament called "Boddencup" in the British Parliamentary Style, language of debate is German. This year's edition will be staged from July 22 to 24 and is going to offer five prelims, semifinals and a final with seven-minute speeches. More information on the tournament will be available soon. But what does "Bodden" actually mean? It refers to the "Greifswalder Bodden", or the Bay of Greifswald – a basin in the southwestern Baltic Sea. If the weather cooperates, there will be a barbecue at beachfront ...

The Debattiergesellschaft Jena (DGJ) will have some new participants on 10 May. Four bank employees form the Geraer Bank eG are going to join their weekly debate next week. Within an internal training program, the four employees have gained rhetorical knowledge. Now they are going to practice with the debaters form Jena in the "Wartburg" style where no proposals are allowed. But that's not enough for Jena's debating society: preparations for the ZEIT DEBATTE Jena are already in full swing. xzy / sol

Becky West and Rogier Baart from the Leiden Debating Union won the Jacobs Open 2011. Their team Stop trying to make 'fetch' happen as Opening Opposition defeated three other teams from the Netherlands: Jeroen Heun and Daniël Springer (Erasmus Rotterdam), Setry Rabejaona and Liva Andersone (Erasmus Rotterdam) and Danique van Koppenhagen and Tomas Beerthuis (Utrecht Debating Society). Best final speaker as well as top of the tab was Daniël Springer. The tab of the Jacobs Open 2011 is online. All motions of the Jacobs Open at a glance: Round 1: This house would abolish monarchies. Round 2: This house believes that professional sports people ...

Today starts in Bremen this year's Jacobs Open. Please read our article in german language.

While debaters from near and far flocked to Bremen's Jacobs Open, the Dresden Debating Union (DDU) devotes itself to OPD, the open parliamentary debate widely spread in the German speaking debating circuit. On Saturday, 30 April, the debaters from the "Florence on the Elbe" hold their first tournament Saturday, including three rounds and a cozy common dinner afterwards. The costs will be borne by the DDU. xzy / tr

On 28 April, three speakers from the Debattiergesellschaft Jena (DJG) will step into the ring against the three professors Stephan Lessenich (Sociology), Michael Dreyer (Political Science) and Stefan Strohschneider (Intercultural Business Communication). Jacob Horn, Friederike Meyer zu Wendischhoff and Severin Weingarten will be arguing on the student side. The audience is to choose the topic and to nominate the winner of the debate. Suggested motions are "Vegetarianism for everyone – should meat consumption be banned?", "Should worse pupils be supported more than better pupils?" and "Should the portrait rights be abandoned?" The show debate starts at 20.15 pm in auditorium 3, located ...

The date is set: This year's Berlin IV will be staged from July 8 to 10. With this BPS tournament, the German capital will thus be a good place to exercis for the Galway Euros in August. IV is not the Roman number 4, but stands for "InterVarsity", hence a competition between universities. Students from insitutions from all over the world are welcome to compete over six prelims with seven-minute speeches and break to open semis and final or to the ESL final where ESL stands for English as a Second Language. The team cap is 52, the first 40 of ...

Why not marry your dog? Eva-Maria Risse, a former schools and university debater (DC Heidelberg and DC München), explains how she once debated a motion that suggested this. The renowned newspaper Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung (FAZ) interviewed her on the occasion of the 10th anniversary of "Jugend debattiert", German language schools debating. Please read the German version of this article for a ful cover-up on the interview. xzy / tr / glx / apf ...

We are sorry, this article is not available in English. Please read the German version of this article to learn more about the re-furbished website of Streitkultur Tübingen. xzy / apf

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The debating society of the Bavarian capital, Munich, organizes on Saturday, April 2nd, a "mini-cup". The debates will be held in BPS. The tournament actually is "mini" because there are provided spots for eight teams in two rooms. After three preliminary rounds, a direct break is planned into the final, the winning team prize beckons as a surprise. tr

VDCH, the Association of Debating Societies at Universities, stages the second adjudication workshop of the current season 2010/2011 from 7 to 8 May 2011. The venue is to be decided by the participants. The trainers are not known yet. Debaters from all VDCH clubs are welcome to inform VDCH vice-president Esther Reinert via esther.reinert@vdch.de whether and with how many debaters they would like to participate at the adjudication workshop.

This article is not yet available in English, please check back later or read the German version.