Working together for yet another season: The German public broadcaster ZDF (or Zweites Deutsches Fernsehen) and the Association of Debating at Universities (VDCH, or Verband der Debattierclubs an Hochschulen) have agreed on extending the cooperation between the two institutions. Jan Lüken, president of the students association, is delighted, “to have ZDF on board for another season. The cooperation proves that debating does have strong partners. VDCH is on a good way to reach the goals of the Roadmap 2015. Having the broadcaster on board is winning partners in key positions to strengthen debating.” ZDF has been VDCH’s partner since spring 2010. ...

The VDCH general assembly is going to sit in Frankfurt on August 20 and 21. Please read more on the detail in the German version of this article.

Severin Weingarten, Moritz Niehaus and Clemens Lechner of Debattiergesellschaft Jena won the 11th German Debating Championship. More informations to follow soon. Please read the German version meanwhile.

For teams qualified for semis of the Deutsche Debattiermeisterschaft (DDM), or German Debating Championship. Read here who competed on a sunny Sunday morning for the title of Deutscher Meister. The motion read "Brauchen wir einen europäischen Marshallplan für Nordafrika?", or "Do we need a Marshall Plan for North Africa?". ...

The German Debating Championship is getting more and more exciting. The motion reads "Soll die Wikipedia Weltkulturerbe werden?", or "Should Wikiepedia become World Heritage?". Read here who made it to quarters in Heidelberg: ...

Heidelberg calling: Debaters from all places on the German language debating circuit assemble by the river Neckar to compete for the title at German Nationals, or Deutsche Debattiermeisterschaft (DDM). 45 Teams from 34 debating societies follow the call of Debating Club Heidelberg: Aachen, Bayreuth, Berlin, Bonn, Dortmund, Dresden, Frankfurt, Freiburg, Göttingen, Graz, Halle, Hamburg, Heidelberg, Ingolstadt, Jena, Karlsruhe, Kiel, Köln, Leipzig, Magdeburg, Mainz, Marburg, Mannheim, München, Münster, Potsdam, Salzburg, Stuttgart, St. Gallen, Tübingen, Wien and Zürich. Internationally speaking, the 11. DDM gets more attention than ever: Four societies from Austria and two from Switzerland will participate in the tournament held ...

The break to finals of the ZEIT DEBATTE Jena is online! Please read the German version of this article to learn who made it to final. vro / apf ...

The Break of the ZEIT DEBATTE Jena is online! Please read the German version of this article to learn who made it to semis. apf / vro ...

We are very sorry, this article is not yet available in English. Please read the German version to learn more about käsespätzle, org comm wearing dirndl and how Florian Prischl got sun burnt during a debate tournament. ...

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

The final is over! Team Colgate Extra White, Austin Schwartz and Travis Steele, have won the Vienna IV 2011 from the position of Opening Government. The final motion read: "This house believes that parties' electoral campaigns should only be funded by the state." Their opponents were the following: ...

While the suspended "Dr." (the German doctoral degree, equivalent to Ph.D.) of the German minister of defence is a hot media topic in Germany, the regional newspaper "Donaukurier" reported on two doctoral students at the Catholic University of Eichstätt-Ingolstadt. One of the interviewees is Jan Lüken, currently president of the umbrella organization VDCH. He is writing his thesis at the Faculty of Economics in Ingolstadt. ...

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. ...

We're very, very sorry this text is not available English. Please read the German version of this article to learn more about poetry among debaters and the final debate on two formats widely spread in Germany: BPS vs. OPD. apf / sol

This article is not available in English. In case you want to learn more about gossips on Magnus Schmagold or Benedikt Nufer, it's a definite must you read the German version of this bit!

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

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 ...

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 ...

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 ...

This is a bit on stories and rumours behind the BaWü 2010, for instance how a team from Berlin called and said how they're stuck in a traffic jam near Frankfurt - unfortunately, this team hadn't registered before! Read more on this and other stories in the German version of this article! ...

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Jan Lüken, VDCH president, published the 1st VDCH Newsletter 2010/2011. Der VDCH Newsletter No 1 is now available online (in German).

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Eisenach is neither very big nor is it very exciting. Out-of-towners attract attention. A bewildered taxi driver asks a party-hungry debater whether he has arrived today. He has not. He has arrived here the day before. What for? To do the same thing, the Deutsche Debattiergesellschaft  (DDG), the German alumni association of former student debaters, has done every year in this small but lovely Thuringian town: Convene its Masters’ Cup. [caption id="attachment_5488" align="alignleft" width="300" caption="Die neu eingeführten Manschettenknöpfe mit DDG-Vereinsabzeichen. Daneben gibt es auch Pins fürs Revers und Magnetpins. (Foto: Oliver Hörtensteiner)"][/caption] All DDG members are allowed to compete, all others are ...

Jens Fischer won the Masters' Cup 2010 of Deutsche Debattiergesellschaft (DDG), the German Debating Society for Alumni. Saturday night he prevailed opposing the motion "This House would operate the Loveparade 2011". His opponents in the final where Sebastian Berg, Lukas Haffert and Patrick Ehmann. CAs Jan Lüken and Gudrun Lux judged the final with Caroline Moll, Wiebke Nadler and Anja Pfeffermann. ...

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The next season of the German debating ZEIT DEBATTEN series is set: the general assembly of VDCH, the Association of Debating Societies at Universities, came together in August and decided upon dates and locations of four ZEIT DEBATTEN tournaments, four regional championships and the German debating championship (DDM) 2011. An overview over the coming season 2010/11 is provided here: ...

Hannes Budelmann, president of Deutsche Debattiergesellschaft (DDG), the German alumni association for debaters, announced the CA team of Masters' Cup 2010. Traditionally, one member each from VDCH and DDG executive boards are the chief adjudicators of Masters' Cup. This year, this will be the recently elected president of VDCH Jan Lüken and Hannes' deputy, DDG vice president Gudrun Lux. Hannes, who once has been co-convenor of Euros 2006 will be chief organiser of the alumni tournament. The Masters’ Cup is the annual tournament which is staged at Eisenach since 2005. The venue for the final is the ballroom at ...