High Participation for German History Competition

German History Competition Poster | Copyright: Ullstein-Bild/Gerd Danigel
German History Competition Poster | Copyright: Ullstein-Bild/Gerd Danigel

The application period for the EUSTORY History Competition of the German President ended on February 28th. In total, 1,563 entries were handed in by participants who followed the call to research this year’s topic „Being different. Outsiders in History“. As in previous years, North Rhine-Westphalia and Lower Saxony boasted the highest participation rates, while entry numbers in Hamburg, Rhineland-Palatinate and Bavaria increased significantly.

„The excellent turnout shows that we struck a chord with young participants”, says Sven Tetzlaff, Head of Department Education at the Körber Foundation and responsible for the German History Competition. “When experiencing that ostracising others is increasingly accepted in society, young people confront that development with their own research into how ‘being different’ was dealt with in the past.” Entries cover a broad number of topics, ranging from homosexuality and the persecution of Roma and Sinti to the more recent integration of disabled persons. Contributing youths frequently reflected the question of „otherness” on the basis of how minorities are treated.

Participants were called to look into biographies of local historical figures, events and developments and to embark on their own thorough historical research. Entries were most often made in the form of written papers or exhibition panels. The use of audio or video formats or other digital media to present research findings continues to increase and by now these formats make up a considerable part of overall entries.

Prizes for the most outstanding contributions on the regional level will be awarded during the summer. Entries successful on the regional level are subsequently considered anew by expert jurors, who will award prizes to the winners of the country-wide competition. Laureates will receive their prizes from the Federal President of Germany during an official ceremony in November 2015. 

In 1973, President Heinemann and Kurt A. Körber announced the first history competition in Germany. Since then the "Geschichtswettbewerb des Bundespräsidenten" has become Germany’s largest organised amateur research movement. Every two years the German President opens a new round of the competition.


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