Friendliness, lunch, recovery - and what Stefan Hübner, Franziskus Bayer and Tim Richter have to do with it. Twitter, losing one's voice, a huge deb soc and the audience's award of best speaker - and what Jenny Bachmann, Jenny Holm, Nicolas Eberle and Andrea Gau have to do with it. Please read Gudrun Lux' entertaining cover-up on the Western German regional - in Deutsch.

Please read the German version of this article to learn more about what both the press and deb socs have to say about the Northern, Eastern and Western German regionals. glx / apf ...

Please find here the cover-ups we have gathered for you on the German regionals. Please do not hesitate to read the German version of this article. There you may learn more on what the press writes about the Western German regional (WDM) as well as what debating societies like DK Wien and DC Freiburg have to say about this year's Southern German regional in Bayreuth. Oliver Hörtensteiner, the tabmaster of this year's Southern German regional put the tab of the competition online. You may also find the tab of WDM 2011 online. glx / apf ...

East, West and North have debated all day long in Halle, Frankfurt and Osnabrück to select the best debaters at German regional championships. Format of this year's regionals is OPD, or Offene Parlamentarische Debatte (open parliamentary debate). Achte Minute has all the results for you. ...

We're sorry, this article is not available in English. Please read the German version to learn about the judge workshop VDCH is offering to its members on May 7 and 8.

Please read the German version.

Please read the German version of this article to learn more about the Southern German Championship in Bayreuth.

Please read the German version of this article to learn more about the German regionals in Bayreuth (South), Frankfurt (West), Osnabrück (North) and Halle (East). 60 teams from all over Germany, Austria and Switzerland are expected to compete on the next two weekends for the titles - and additional teams for the German Debating Championship in Heidelberg in June. ...

In the German newspaper Stuttgarter Nachrichten, Jan Lüken, president of the umbrella organization of german language debating societies, Association of Debating Societies at Universities (VDCH), analyzed the rhetoric of candidates from the German federal state Baden-Württemberg. State elections, Landtagswahl, are just around the corner and will take place on Sunday. Please read the german version of his statements. tr / apf

VDCH proudly presents: debatING. from Technische Universität Kaiserslautern! The Association of Debating Societies at Universities (VDCH) is growing ever more which makes Marcus Ewald, vice-president of the association, happy: “VDCH is growing into a strong network that covers most universities – debating is becoming more and more renowned in Germany and neighboring countries.” debatING. is member number 71 of VDCH. ...

We are sorry, this article is not available in English.

We are sorry, this article is not available in English.

We are sorry, this article is not available in English.

The ZEIT – the main sponsor of the debating tournament series ZEIT DEBATTEN announced their sponsorship for this upcoming semester. All debating societies that belong to the umbrella association VDCH can now apply for material support for introductory evenings for newbies, university fairs or other events. For bigger events they also provide up to 80 Euros of financial support for debating clubs. The aim is to assist clubs with material or financial help, so that various debating projects and events may be realized. msi / apf

The regional championships will take place from 16 to 17 April 2011 with exception of the South German Championship which will be held one week earlier.The Northern regionals will be hosted by Debattierclub Osnabrück, a society still not much older than a year. Convener of the Southern regionals is going to be Debattierclub Bayreuth which is located in Franconia. Host of the Eastern regionals will be Klartext Halle, acting Eastern regional champion and German debating champion of 2008. Stage to the Western regionals will be Frankfurt by the river Main, hosted by Debattierclub ...

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.

This is an article about the German Senior League in Schools Debating. This league is annually staged by the Debating Society Germany (DSG) in Würzburg. Marcus Ewald travelled to the Franconian town where he presented the Association of Debating Societies at Universities (VDCH). In the end, the two umbrella associations have come to the conclusion that they must work together. Read more on the tourny and the coop in the German version of this article. Unfortunately, the piece is not yet available in English.

The Association of Debating Societies at Universities (VDCH) has now grown to 70 debating societies. The umbrella association represents debating societies in Germany, Austria, Italy and Switzerland. Jan Lüken, current president of VDCH, is proud to announce that just recently four new debating societies have become members of VDCH. These are AFA Wien, Debattierclub Zürich, DUEbattierclub Duisburg-Essen and Streitkultur Berlin. Streitkultur Berlin is a kind of "branch" of Streitkultur Tübingen and as such an advocat for the format OPD (open parliamentary debate, a format widely spread in Germany). The executive board is formed by Christoph Krakowiak, Helen Leutloff and Julia Dragon. ...

The next big event of the ZEIT DEBATTEN open its registration: Nils Haneklaus from Debattierclub Stuttgart just opened registration for the ZEIT DEBATTE which will be held in Stuttgart from 11th to 13th March. ...

The next big event of the ZEIT DEBATTEN series starts today! Everybody on the German debating circuit is on their way to Mainz. The convenors allure to German speaking debaters with a new breaking system new to the format of OPD (open parliamentary debate) which allows all speakers to enjoy five debates instead of the usual three. On top of that, they show great hospitality so typical for Rhineland-Palatinate: accommodation in a four-star hotel, free cider for everybody, winetasting under the guidance of the wine queen representing the wine-growing district around Mainz - and a masquerade! To learn more on ...

Dear readers of Achte Minute, dear friends, we wish you merry holidays and a happy new year! On top of that, we would like to thank you for being such devoted readers. We hope that after the holidays we will be your up-to-date and reliable reporters that you are used to when it comes to debate related issues on the German speaking debating circuit and beyond. Achte Minute is a honorary project which is supported by the commitment of many. We thank you all for your commitment that makes Achte Minute what it is. We are always happy about recent information and ...

Marcus Ewald, VDCH vice president, published the 3rd VDCH Newsletter 2010/2011. Der VDCH Newsletter No 3 is now available online (in German).

The next big event of the ZEIT DEBATTEN series is just around the corner: Nicolas Eberle, president of Debattierclub Johannes Gutenberg (DCJG), announced registration open for the ZEIT DEBATTE in Mainz from 14 to 16 January. The convenors allure to German speaking debaters with a system new to the format of OPD (open parliamentary debate) which allows all speakers to enjoy five debates instead of the usual three. On top of that, they show great hospitality so typical for Rhineland-Palatinate: accommodation in a four-star hotel, free cider for everybody, winetasting under the guidance of the wine queen representing the wine-growing ...

Marcus Ewald, VDCH vice president, published the 2st VDCH Newsletter 2010/2011. Der VDCH Newsletter No 2 is now available online (in German). ...

Please read the German version of this article if you want to learn more on the requirements for the qualification of judges for the German debating championship (DDM) of 2011. The German debating Championship will be staged in Heidelberg from 9 to 12 June 2011. Format will be OPD, the open parliamentary debate widely spread on the German speaking debating circuit. The Debating Club Heidelberg (DCH), then German debating champion in 2004, will now be host to Germany’s largest tournament where at least 45 teams will participate. The ZEIT DEBATTEN series is convened by VDCH in ...

Please read the German version of this article on the adjudication workshop held in Wiesbaden from 26 to 28 November hosted by the Association of Debating Societies at Universities (VDCH).

Watch the final of ZEIT DEBATTE Greifswald 2010 now! ...

The Debating Club Heidelberg announced the German Debating Championship's complete CA team.  Former VDCH-president and Western German Champion of 2008 Tim Richter from the Debattierclub Bonn will join the already announced Chief adjudicators Gudrun Lux (Debattierclub Bonn), Jan Lüken (WFI Debattierclub Ingolstadt) and Marcus Ewald (DCJG Mainz). The German debating Championship will be staged in Heidelberg from 9 to 12 June 2011. Format will be OPD, the open parliamentary debate widely spread in the German speaking debating circuit. The Debating Club Heidelberg, then German debating champion in 2004, will now be host to Germany’s largest tournament. The ZEIT ...

Sorry, this article is not available in English. ...