Germany

On 13th November 2013, Federal President Joachim Gauck invited prize winners of the German History Competition 2012/13 to his official residence Schloss Bellevue in Berlin. The award ceremony was the celebratory conclusion of the 23rd call for students’ research projects under the topic of: “Familiar Strangers. Neighbors in History”.

The prize-winning contributions demonstrated the variety of topics that over 5,000 participants had worked on and the manifold methods they had employed. Out of more than 1,300 entries, the jury selected the five best contributions which now were awarded a first prize. For example, a documentary film about a red light district in direct neighborhood to a school and a detailed research on mutual cross-border support during the division of Germany were prize-winning contributions.

During the ceremony three highly dedicated teachers, who supported young researchers in their work, were awarded a special prize for their extraordinary commitment.

Furthermore, representatives of the most successful schools of the latest History Competition as well as participants of the special bi-national competitions for German-French and German-Polish entries were honored.

The award ceremony also marked the 40 anniversary of the German History Competition of the Federal President, which is organised by the Koerber Foundation since 1973. The new topic of the coming 24th competition will be announced by the German Federal President on 1st September 2014.