We proudly present the winners of this year’s German regionals: Heidelberg won the Southern German regional. Berlin won the Northern German regional. Mainz won the Middle German regional. Congrats to everyone! In the South, Wiebke Nadler und Till Kroeger from Debating Club Heidelberg defeated Teams from Munich an Vienna. Jakob Reiter (Debattierklub Wien) was awarded most popular speaker of the final; Sven Hirschfeld (Heidelberg) and Konrad Gütschow (Tübingen) topped the tab. In the North, Georg Sommerfeld and Johannes Häger from BDU Berlin defeated Teams from Potsdam and other Teams from Berlin. Jonas Werner was awarded best speaker of the final. In the Middle, Andrea Gau and Daniil ...

Spring has just begun, but you better take care about this year's end already: Registration for World Universities Debating Championship (WUDC or Worlds) starts this Saturday, March 31, at 3pm Berlin time (GMT +2). Dessislava Kirova, participant affairs officer in Patrick Ehmann's org comm, announced that there will be a team cap of 400 with spots for 300 judges. Reg fees for WUDC Berlin 2013 from 27 December 2012 to 4 January 2013 are 400 Euros per capita. Registration comprises five phases: Phase 0: Please read the elligibility rules. Phase 1: Be quick and register on the WUDC Berlin 2013 blog, principle: first ...

Do you have a helping hand? Contact Marietta Gädeke via m.gaedeke@wudcberlin.com and learn more about how to help make Berlin Worlds 2013 a tournament to remember. Read the German version of this to learn more about the details. ...

Debattierclub  Mainz won ZEIT DEBATTE Magdeburg. To know more please read the German version.

Break at ZEIT DEBATTE Karlsruhe 2011 - here it is! ...

New FDL results: Tübingen (44) Mainz (37) Heidelberg Debating (34) AFA Wien (20), Hamburg (20) Top speakers FDL: Philipp Stiel (44) Willy Witthaut (38) Zsolt Szilagyi (35) Read more in this in the German version.

Julian Ohm and Barbara Schunicht from Debattierclub Hamburg won the Berlin Punk 2012. They defeated Andreas Lazar and Roxanna Noll from Debattierclub Stuttgart and two teams from Berlin Debating Union: Jonas Werner and Katja Krüger aswell as Christina Dexel and Lilian Seffer. The final motion read “Dieses Haus glaubt, dass Menschenversuche Richtern als Strafmaß zur Verfügung stehen sollten.“ ...

Please read the German version of this.

sorry, there is no English translation available. Please read the German version. ...

Trauma overcome! Worlds' runner-up Dessislava Kirova gives Achte Minute'e appreciated readers an insight on how she and her team mate Juliane Mendelsohn have overcome their trauma of being defeated in quarters - and how the proceed straight on to the finals of the World Universities Debating Championships (WUDC or Worlds) in Manila, Philippines. (The story is in German, please check back later for an English translation.) ...

Female power straight on through to the final - Dessislava Kirova and Juliane Mendelsohn of Berlin Debating Union (BDU) are runner-ups to Omer and Sella Nevo from Israel who won the ESL final of the World University Debating Championships (WUDC or Worlds). Congrats from Achte Minute to all! The ladies gave Achte Minute an interview - please switch to the German page to read the full story or check back later for an English translation.

Since we guess that our appreciated readers follow us on Twitter your head will most probably be replete with impressions from De La Salle Worlds. But what are the facts and figures about the Wolrd Universities Debating Championships (WUDC)? Or maybe you have been there yourself and want to sort things out now? Your Achte Minute team provides you with all you might want to know – and even beyond. By the way, you still might wanna follow the Hashtag #WUDC on Twitter – you’ll find funny stories and how everybody copes with the aftermath of post-Worlds exhaustion. ...

New year's daywas quiet at World Universities Debating Championships (WUDC or Worls) in Manila:Most debater had the chance to take a tour around the Philippinian capital, relaxed and hang out at the hotel. That was not true today for the national delegates. They had to sit in the WUDC Council where they decide about a new Council president, the confirmation of the current bid for next Worlds and the bid for the Worlds after that. And there we have a new president: Steve Johnson, until recently "registrar", followed Jens Fischer in the office. With him on the Council board are Eoin ...

Debaters from all over the world are flocking in to Manila, Philippines. From 27 December 2011 to 4 January 2012, they assemble at De La Salle University (DLSU) to compete for the title of the World Universities Debating Championships (WUDC or Worlds). From under the roof of VDCH there will be the following debating society competing with around 400 teams from about 70 countries - all in a peaceful competition, the WUDC 2012 or DLSU Worlds: Berlin Debating Union: John Eltringham, Narendran Ramasendaran, Dessislava Kirova, Juliane Mendelsohn, Kai Dittmann, Matthias Winkelmann S.A.E.C.L.O. Greifswald: Rafael Heinisch, Ida Heidecker Debattierclub Mannheim: Jana Gilke, Katrin Sadroschinski Debattierclub Johannes ...

The Berlin Debating Union announced the Berlin World's DCAs. Victor Finkel, Isabelle Fischer (former Loewe) and James Kilcup are Berlin World's DCAs, Jens Fischer is Tabmaster. Congrats! Doug Cochran and Sharmila Parmanand are the Berlin World's CAs. We are very happy to see the newly wed Jens and Isa Fischer as DCA and Tabmaster and use the opportunity to congratulate them to their wedding!

Carsten Meyer, board member for public relations of Streitkultur Berlin, has redesigned the homepage of his debatins society. It contains news from Streitkultur Berlin as well as the club's history and general information on debating. xzy / tr

Great start into the ZEIT DEBATTEN season 2011/2012 for Berlin Debating Union. Their speakers Georg Sommerfeld, Patrick Ehmann and Johannes Häger won the ZEIT DEBATTE's final against Marco Niedermaier, Lukas Windhager and Almut Graebsch who were competing for Debattierclub München. Georg Sommerfeld was the best speaker of the final. The motion was: Do we need the United Staates of Europe? The final was completed by the free speakers Willy Witthaut (Mainz), Sven Hirschfeld (Heidelberg) and Irene Adamski (Halle). The finals' adjudicators: Pauline Leopold (Tübingen), Yin Cai (Heidelberg), Christoph Krakowiak (SK Berlin), Mario Dießner (SK Berlin), Leonid Vogel (Karlsruhe) and ...

Berlin and Munich are competing in ZEIT DEBATTE final. The proposition ist from Debattierclub Munich, opposition from Berlin Debating Union. Free speakers (a characteristic of the format OPD) are Sven Hirschfeld (Heidelberg), Irene Adamski (Halle) and Willy Witthaut (Mainz).

Break at ZEIT DEBATTE Karlsruhe 2011 - here it is! ...

Please read the German version of this article to learn more about the Berlin Punk tourney.

Seven liberties of university students - debating is one of them according to the German newspaper Tagesspiegel. Read the German version of this to learn more about the newspaper's recommendation of the Berlin Debating Union.

All candidates have applied for the office of deputy chief adjudicator for the World Universities Debating Championships (WUDC or Worlds) to be held in Berlin. Now the chief adjudicators Doug Cochran and Sharmila Parmanand require the help of the international debating circuit: Give your feedback on the candidates, among them Isabelle Loewe (Bonn) and Ben Woolgar (Oxford)! The full list is available on the blog of WUDC Berlin 2013. Doug and Sharmila point out that they will not accept anonymous feedback and promise that all e-mails will be treated strictly confidentially. They also ask all of you to put special focus ...

The Berlin invitational will be a tournament on January 20, 2012. It will be in German, so please switch to the German version of this article to learn more about the details.

[caption id="attachment_11004" align="alignright" width="300" caption="Die Berlin Debating Union leistet Aufbauhilfe im Norden Europas. Der deutsche Hauptstadtclub debattiert, trainiert und tauscht Tipps aus mit Debattanten aus der norwegischen Hauptstadt. (Foto: Manuel Adams)"][/caption] Norway is one of those geek countries who always appear superior in statistics. No other country is that richt, that educated, that peaceful and that fair. Or so so Manuel Adams sees it. Please read the German version of this article to find out what kind of development aid Berlin provided in Oslo.

Just 15 months until the global debating community is going to assemble in Berlin from December 27, 2012 until January 4, 2013 to compete for the title of the World Universities Debating Championships (WUDC or Worlds). Right now, chief adjudicators Sharmila Parmanand and Doug Cochran are looking for deputy chief adjudicators (DCA) to enhance their team. Please use the application form made available for you by Achte Minute. What's the task? Doug gave Achte Minute the answer: DCAs should "serve alongside us in training judges, setting motions, and generally managing the adjudication of the tournament." Sharmila and he are "looking ...

Since we guess that our appreciated readers follow us on Twitter your head will most probably be replete with impressions from Galway Euros. But what are the facts and figures about the European Universities Debating Championships (EUDC or Euros)? Or maybe you have been there yourself and want to sort things out now? Your Achte Minute team provides you with all you might want to know - and even beyond. By the way, you still might wanna follow the Hashtag #EUDC on Twitter - you'll find funny stories and how everybody copes with the ...

Tel Aviv A is double breaking at Galway Euros! That is in the open and in the ESL break. Something that is only possible at Euros, not at Worlds. Find the rest of the break to quarter finals below - we have it all for you: The open break as well as the ESL break. That was one exciting announcement ... my goodness! OPEN BREAK The competitors of the open break have to be early birds: Debate starts at 9 a.m., ... Quarter final 1: TCD Hist B King's Inn A UCD L&H A UCC Philosoph B Quarter final 2: Oxford A KCL A UCC Law B Warwick ...

First things first: If you don't like Irish weather - just wait 15 minutes. It'll be better after that. And then again, after 15 minutes, it'll be worse than ever. And so on. That is only made up to by the people. They are amazingly friendly. You cannot get lost even if you are drunk as hell... there are people everywhere to help you. Only obstacle: The Irish accent. As soon as you get used to it, you're fine. It doesn't matter if you're booked for the finals at Euros or if you're ...