It’s been five years since the first WUDC in Germany took place. Teams from all over the world met in Berlin to determine the best debaters in the world. But how was it for the volunteers and organisers? We have asked some witnesses about their memories.  Florian Umscheid [caption id="attachment_33284" align="alignright" width="400"] © Henrik Maedler[/caption] At Worlds 2013, I was Chief of Runners. The ballot handing happened analog back then which meant that the running-team had to hand out 100 ballots to 100 rooms in six or seven buildings of the TU (Technical University) and collect them after in each round. My most ...

The elections for the European Parliament are right around the corner. This year’s elections promise to be different. For the first time, the citizens of the European Union can directly vote for the President of the EU parliament, while the rise of far right groups could create tensions in the EU. Under these impressions, the coordination meeting for the European Debates took place in Berlin this weekend. Right in the heart of Berlin, at the Allianz Foundation Forum next to the Brandenburg Gate, 23 young Europeans gathered to plan and discuss the series of upcoming debates. The association Bürger Europas e.V. ...

[caption id="attachment_21882" align="alignright" width="379"] Jonas Huggins (l.) and Nikos Bosse (c) private[/caption] The editorial board of the Achte Minute is complete again. The publishers of the online-magazine, the Association of German Speaking University Debating Societies (VDCH) and the German Debating Society (DDG), have filled two posts: Taking effect immediately, Jonas Huggins (Berlin Debating Union e.V.) is Editor-in-chief; Assistant Editor-in-chief is Nikos Bosse (Streitkultur e.V. Tübingen). This has been announced by Florian Umscheid, President of VDCH, in a mail to all member clubs. For the first time since 2006 the editorial board now comprises of three persons. Together with Editor-in-chief Sarah Kempf, Jonas ...

After Florian Umscheid has run the Achte Minute along with Annette Kirste since January 2013, he will assume a new task now: The representatives of german-speaking debating clubs elected him the president of VDCH (Verband der Debattierclubs an Hochschulen), the umbrella organisation of over 70 mostly German and Austrian debating clubs at universities. Along with Annette, Sarah Kempf will now run the Achte Minute as editor-in-chief. She has been Chief Convenor of the German Universities Debating Championship 2009 and the Gutenberg-Cup 2009 and 2010. Since 2010, she reports on local affairs and culture for the daily newspaper Allgemeine Zeitung in Mainz. ...

The general assembly of VDCH (Verband der Debattierclubs an Hochschulen), the umbrella organisation of over 70 german-speaking debating clubs at universities, has elected a new executive board on August 31. Florian Umscheid (Berlin/Bamberg) was elected president by the representatives; vice presidents are Tobias Kube (Marburg), Jennifer Holm (Heidelberg) and Alexander Labinsky (Dresden).   The Achte Minute congratulates the new board and wishes them best of success for their term of office! kem

Tobias Kube was awarded for being the most promising debater new on the German language deating circuit at the German Language Debating Championship in Vienna in June this year. Deutsche Debattiergesellschaft, the alumni debating society of Germany, grants this award every year to one of the up-and-coming debaters. Read here the interview of a first year who will soon be debating with and against old stagers at the Masters’ Cup in Eisenach. Read the complete interview in German.

The third season of the Free Debating League begins with two new coordinators Irene Adamski and Florian Umscheid. FDL is a series of opens and smaller tournaments in addition to the big tournaments of the ZEIT DEBATTEN series. FDL tournaments have to be held in German, so please check the German version for mor information.

 

 

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.“ ...

As usual at Worlds, the last day of the year is also the last day of preliminary rounds. Another three rounds capped off those rounds and finally determined who will advance to the final rounds ("break") and who won't. To discourage bad and destructive behaviour in these rounds, no adjudication is given after the rounds end. That means that the latest available information regarding standings is from last night after round 6 - Can Okar and Florian Umscheid have compiled unofficial tabs based on publicly available data: Can's GoogleDoc and Florian's Facebook posts thus provided a glimpse of who might ...

It was another busy day at De La Salle Worlds in Manila, and debaters got a glimpse of what they all hope to hold in their hands on January 3 - trophies! ...

SkypeDebate - online debates via Skype, initiated by Debattierclub Johannes Gutenberg. Curious? Read more on this in the German version of this article.

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

Sina Strupp was awarded for being the most promising debater new on the German language deating circuit at the German Language Debating Championship in Heidelberg in June this year. Deutsche Debattiergesellschaft, the alumni debating society of Germany, grants this award every year to one of the up-and-coming debaters. Read here the interview of a first year who will soon be debating with and against old stagers at the Masters' Cup in Eisenach. It's in German, though. “Wie eine Explosion“ war es für Sina Strupp, als sie im Sommer bei der Deutschen Debattiermeisterschaft (DDM) in Heidelberg mit dem Nachwuchspreis ausgezeichnet wurde. Den ...

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 ...

Achtung, the Germans! The teams from the German speaking regions make up one of the largest groups here at Galway Euros, the European Universities Debating Championships (EUDC and Euros) held in Ireland this year. 17 teams from Germany and Austria are competing for the title at the western coast of the Emerald Isle. To make sure you keep your fingers crossed for the right teams, we are presenting you with the names: ...

Rain, rain, rain - all over Germany! But the brave debaters of the Boddencup never gave in and even did their BBQ in Greifswald. A short lesson on German geography: "Bodden are brackish bodies of water along the southwestern shores of the Baltic Sea, primarily in Germany's state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern around the island of Rügen," as Wikipedia has it. This year's Boddencup was staged by Greifwald's debating society for the third time in a row. It was also the final of the first season of Freie Debattierliga, or free debating league (FDL). Read more on a rainy weekend by the ...

Please read the German version of this article to learn about winners, runner-ups, motions, special awards and to find pics from the black-tie party that the DebatingClub Heidelberg threw during the German Debating Championship, or Deutsche Debattiermeisterschaft (DDM). ...

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: ...

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 ...

Please read the German version of this article to learn more on how Florian Umscheid saw the ZEIT DEBATTE tournament in Jena.

“Embracing Dissent“ is the motto of the WUDC Berlin 2013 – “We believe this reflects the enlightening and liberating clash of ideas that shaped European and German history - and, of course, what makes debate relevant and exciting”, the Facebook site of WUDC Berlin 2013 announced. No doubt, there is a natural dissent between the fractions of a parliamentary debate. Yet, there might also be dissent during the preparatory phase of the World Universities Debating Championships (WUDC or Worlds), for instance in a heated debate about the motto. However, consent was the motto when now WUDC convenor Patrick Ehmann travelled the ...

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 ...

Please read the German version of this article to learn more about how our author saw the Eastern German Championship of mid-April and how he mocks the creativity of some judges when it came to knowing the rules of the format OPD, or open parliamentary debate.

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 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