The German language debating championship is about to start in Vienna, Austria. Competing for the title are 68 teams from Germany, Switzerland and Austria, or debating societies from Aachen, Bayreuth, Berlin, Bonn, Dresden, Frankfurt, Freiburg, Graz, Göttingen, Halle, Hamburg, Hannover, Heidelberg, Ingolstadt, Jena, Karlsruhe, Kiel, Klagenfurt, Köln, Konstanz, Leipzig, Magdeburg, Mainz, Marburg, München, Münster, Potsdam, Regensburg, Salzburg, Stuttgart, St. Gallen, Tübingen, Wien, Würzburg and Zürich. Learn more about MDD in the German version of this article and follow us on Facebook and Twitter (hashtag #MDD12). It's the first time the German language debating championship (Meisterschaft im deutschsprachigen Debattieren or MDD) is hosted ...

Dresden's new executive board: president Alexander Stötzner vice president Benjamin Lüber treasurer Lukas Arthur Kamratzki

 

They did it: The Dresden Debating Union elected a new executive board. Alexander Sötzner is now president, treasurer is Marcel Sauerbier, Nora Sachse serves as vice president. All the best for their work in Dresden!

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

News from Dresden: because of the vacation time there weren’t enough responses for participation at the Saggsn Masders. That’s why organizer Alexander Labinsky, member of Dresden Debating Union (DDU), announced that the tournament has to be postponed. Alexander assured Achte Minute that the DDU guys are looking for a new date and will invite the debating societies again. We will surely also publish the news here on the magazine in time. vro / tr

Göttingen (Nicolas Friebe and David Lamouroux) won the final of ZEIT DEBATTE Stuttgart 2011! Best Speaker Award goes to Katharina Wagner from Dresden Debating Union. Please read more on this in the German version of this article. ...

Please read the German version of this article to find out who broke to semi-finals at ZEIT DEBATTE Stuttgart! ...

News from the wild wild East: the Saxons want to find their debating master. That’s the reason why organizer Alexander Labinsky is inviting members of selected debating societies from 2 to 3 April to the "Saggsn Masders" (Saxony Championships) in Dresden in the name of Dresden Debating Union (DDU). The tournament will be held in the format of the Open Parliamentary Debate (OPD). There are three preliminary rounds, semis and the final scheduled, the time limit for every speech is seven minutes in all rounds. The participation fee is 7,50 Euro and contains snacks and drinks during the whole tournament and the ...

Long-term students: welfare scrounger? The Dresden Debating Union (DDU) discussed this question during their special event on Tuesday, 15 February 2011. Six DDU members and three speakers from the audience first discussed some arguments in the debate. Afterwards, there was an open discussion including the whole audience, which lasted another hour. In the end it came out that the topic is really complex and there were still a lot of unanswered questions. If you want to know more, please read the German version of this article. vro / apf

Actually there are no debates scheduled in Dresden because the Technical University Dresden (TU Dresden) is having its semester break. But Dresden Debating Union (DDU) is always on the ball and organized a special event due to current happenings. On 15 February there will be a debate about the topic "welfare scrounger" with an additional discussion afterwards, which is especially addressed to students. The reason for this event is the statement of Henry Hasenpflug, state secretary of the Saxon State Ministry of Science and Art, who said that long-term students are "welfare scrounger". Caz, the student newspaper of Dresden, already published ...

Again it’s Tuesday night. Time for a bit of debating at Dresden Debating Union (DDU). Today the "Crosstalk" is scheduled, like one could read in the announcement of the weekly newsletter. "Crosstalk" means that only two speakers compete against each other. Each one of them may speak three and a half minutes for two times. At the end of the evening there is a winner, who could defend himself successfully in all the preliminary rounds. Like every week, the motions are important for lively debates. In opposite to the usual debates, this time the motions were drawn. Afterwards the speakers had ...

Who is top of the club? The Dresden Debating Union (DDU) wants to figure that out and therefore hosts on Tuesday, 25 January, an internal tournament called "Crosstalk". ...

On December 21st, Christmas found its way to Dresden Debating Union (DDU): About 15 members of DDU came together at the annual Christmassy Debate in the Dark. This debate wasn’t really dark, but a fun debate with candlelight. There were motions offered like "Are only people who are paying church tax allowed to celebrate Christmas?", "Should Christmas take place twice a year?" and "Christ Child versus Santa Claus". Finally there was a debate about the appearance of Santa Claus with candle light, hot spiced wine and self-made biscuits. The government promoted a well-fed, easy-going Santa Claus with a big bushy beard ...

Candlelight instead of electric light: The Dresden Debating Union (DDU) turns off the electric light for its Christmas party on 21st December and debates just with candlelight. The debating society not only offers debates with Christmassy fun motions in the Open Parliamentary Style (OPD) but also hot spiced wine and biscuits. Usually DDU publishes two days before each debate three motions, but this time the motions will be presented and chosen on the evening of the event itself. Originally thought as St Nicholas Debate, the Christmassy Debate in the Dark takes place since 2005 yearly in the Advent season. The event ...

Young speakers, high level: At the eighth speech forum for youth, which took place in the Saxonian Parliament, exciting debates were held by students from class 8 to 12 from Saxony and Thuringia. The debating contest, which happened on Saturday, 6th November, was also judged by  Dresden Debating Union's president Katharina Wagner. The young speakers could demonstrate their speaking abilities in several panel discussions and monologues. The first part of the speech forum consisted of six panel discussions. In each discussion six participants converged and the best three could reach the next round. The Dresden Debating Union reports on its website ...

Hooray and boohoo: Just eight teams out of 24 had the chance to break at the ZEIT DEBATTEN series kick-off that opens the current season of 2010/2011. Here are the teams that compete for the break into finals on Sunday morning at Greifswald by the Baltic Sea. ...

Dresden Debating Union (DDU) presents its new website. Check out the new website of DDU!

Am ersten Märzwochenende trafen sich Redner der Clubs Wortkombinat Ilmenau, Wortgefechte Erfurt, Dresden Debating Union und Debattiergesellschaft Jena in Jena zum Freundschaftsturnier. Ilmenau hat gewonnen und einen Bericht über das Freundschaftsturnier veröffentlicht.