wudcwatch issue #1

PORTRAIT2 Berlin – City of Dissent Learn about Berlin‘s interesting History

STORY

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Berlin: Poor but SexyWhat is so special about Berlin?

SERVICE 4 The Team/Announcements/Number of the Day/Other Information

Question of the DayWhat‘s your first Impression of Berlin?

EdITOR In chIEfMartin Funck

This is Berlin.

Welcome to wuːtʃ/ ISSUE #1

Welcome, debaters from all over the world!

We are happy to welcome you to Berlin. You will have some amazing days, while joining an amazing tournament and staying in an amazing city. You have all had your first impressions. Today we will provide you with some basic information about Berlin, the “place to be” like the Mayor once called it. It’s a city with a disrupted history, a city full of dissent, which we have collected and presented to you on the following pages.

Our aspiration is to catch what’s happening, portraying this most international Worlds-community ever whilst giving you some background information and gathering some memories you can take home and preserve.

The name wudcwatch harks back to how the German staff team used to pronounce the WUDC. It’s a wuːtʃ/ - like “watch” with an u instead of the a.

The editions of the wudcwatch will be published on December 30th, and January 2nd and 4th. Meanwhile you can read background stories in our online counterpart the www.achteminute.de/en. This is the blog of the german debating community - we will also provide you with some QR-Codes linking you to further material.

Maybe we will come to you and ask you something, but if we don’t find you please don’t hesitate to write us if you have a story you would like for us to share or some information we have missed in our paper.

Have a nice time here at the WUDC. Enjoy it.

The first QR-code to try out:

EDITORIAL

»for you: for information, for entertainment, for memories.«

Friday | December 28th 2012

wudcwatch

TABLE OF CONTENTS

2

Berlin – City of Dissent

Checkpoint Charlie: The point where the weapons were hot and the action was cold. One month after the wall was built in 1961, loaded battle tanks from the US and the USSR took up position on their respective sides of the wall, but it never came to military action. People from the west were allowed to enter the east but for East German civilians the border was closed. It may be the struc-ture that singularly best represents the tension of The Cold War.

Museum Island: Here you are roughly in the birthplace of Berlin with historical buildings. For example you can see the Nofretete in the Neues Museum. This museum was all but destroyed in World War II but reopened its doors in 2009.

Berlin Wall Memorial: Located between the S-Bahn-Station Nord-bahnhof and U-Bahn-Station Bernauer Straße. There is a part of the original route of the Wall rebuilt in some artificial artefacts. You see how the wall seperated one city into two.

The clash of beliefs, which were fought with swords or quills, are a central element of the history of Berlin: Poor versus rich, armed ver-sus unarmed, communism versus capitalism, inferior versus superior, conservative versus progressive, and inclusive versus exclusive.

On January 18th 1707, the Bran-denburgian Prince Friedrich crow-ned himself first king of Prussia, a territory consisting of today’s Po-land, the Baltic States and Russia, and chose Berlin as the capital of his reign. The monarchy of Friedrich and his followers had an absolute claim to power, which according to them, was given to him by God. Still, Berlin became the center of the Enlightenment, which was even supported by the crown, where intellectuals wanted to understand the world rationally and to question given traditional beliefs. A living contradiction was the Prussian King Friedrich II. On the one hand he was a progressive philosopher and on the other was a ruthless power politician, whose aggressive way of war killed thousands of people.

In 1848, the German revolution began in Berlin, when the citizens protested furiously against the on-going impoverishment and claimed the right of political participation. Harassed by soldiers, the citizens began with barricade fights, which spread all over the city and led to 192 dead demons-trators. At the end, the king had to kneel down in front of the victims wearing the colors red, black and gold, which became the colors of the German national flag.

The transformation of the society from an agricultural into an industri-al one in the 19th century changed Berlin forever. Enterprises like Sie-mens were founded and countless chimney stacks rised. Families from all over Europe moved to Berlin for searching work and a new life. But the increasing number of citizens

As the name of the street where the major part of the events of the WUDC take place indicates, Berlin has always been a place where objections have been raised and different opinions have competed with each other. The Straße des 17. Juni recalls the suppressed revolt of 1953 where Berlin’s citizens of the GDR protested against the unjust working conditions and were shot down and arrested by Soviet troops.

was accompanied by poverty and a housing shortage of the wor-king class. As a consequence they turned to socialist ideas, the idea to create a classless society. This contradicted the ideas of the King

who lived only a few kilome-tres away in a extreme way. He still believed in a God-given order of mon-archy.

In 1871 Berlin became capital of the Ger-

man Empire. In three wars against internal and external enemies Prussia won and was able to unify the German states to one political confederation. This Empire ended on November 9th 1918, when the German Emperor gave up his power and the German Republic was proclaimed. Berlin remained capital and became a metropolis, where the major contradictions of

the socially explosive circumstan-ces were obvious: contemporary art versus the drawback to nature, right politicians versus socialist workers, totalitarian putschists versus trying democrats. At the

The point where weapons were hot and the action was cold

Places of dissent where you can goToday, Berlin is still the capital where mentalities and extremes meet: poor and rich, up and down,

left and right.

end, the NSDAP under the lead of Adolf Hitler won, which gained the power over Germany with the aid of a putsch. In the following years, dissent was rarely possible, but in secret it lived on and led to actions.

The assassins around Stauffen-berg operated from Berlin alt-hough they were small in quanitity they tried vigorously to fight Hitler, as Hans Fallada documented mas-terly in his romance “Jeder stirbt für sich allein”.

The citizens of Berlin had to suffer for the hybris of the Germans. Berlin was destroyed by a hail of bombs. Berlin was divided between the victorious powers, which began fighting each other. West-Berlin became an island amidst the GDR, the outpost of the western world. East-Berlin became the capital of an autocratic regime, seperated by a wall that became famous around the world – the Berlin Wall.

This wall fell on November 9 1989, when the GDR failed on the will of freedom and the courage of its citi-zens. After less than 12 months, Ger-many was reunified again. Today, Berlin is still the capital of a nation where mentalities and extremes meet: poor and rich, up and down, left and right. (cla)

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Places of dissent where you can go

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What‘s yourfirst Impression

of Berlin?

QUESTION OF THE DAY

There are a lot of beau-tiful buildings. Berlin is a good place to travel. The

people are very nice and there are no difficulties in communication. Berlin isn’t the first German city I visited. I was also in Munich, but the people in Berlin are more friendly.

„Anna Lee, Wenzao Ursuline College of Languages (Taiwan)

Berlin: Poor but sexy“Poor but sexy”, that’s how Berlin’s current mayor Klaus Wowereit once called this city.

Indeed many “Kiezes” (that’s how Berliners call a town district) are rather bare, with graffiti covering the walls and empty bottles sitting on the sidewalks as a memory of long nights. Nevertheless, this city attracts people from all parts of the world and previously dangerous Kiezes like Neukölln have transformed into luxurious districts rapidly - at least if you look at the cost of rent.

The streets themselves, however, resist this transformation. Graffiti, small bars, Spätis on every corner (24h bottle market) - Berlin is full of alternative charm. This also means there is something for everybody. For fans of techno, Berlin is a stronghold, just look at the Berghain, named world’s best club for several years of this decade or the Loveparade which also originates from Berlin. Those who like indie or rock will find their places to live through the night, for example in the RAW-temple in Friedrichshain.

So how is today’s Berlin looking? It is a city affected by its history, it’s international popularity and certainly from its hedonism. On the one hand some of the most important places of German history, like the Brandenburg Gate or the Castle Bellevue call Berlin home. On the other hand Berlin is a city of the night for those who live for the moment - or who at least do not think about the next morning. Then, the night transforms into day with many parties starting on Friday night and ending on Sunday morning.

Traditionally, the evening starts with a beer in the train, most often Sterni, one of the cheapest. The famous drag queen Nina Queer once said: “If New York is the city that never sleeps, then Berlin is the city that always f***s.” Of course, it’s impossible to oversimplify a city, likewise its inhabitants. But all those that look for something other than debating after a long WUDC day, will have a large number of choices: be it in Friedrichshain where you’ll find bar after bar on Simon-Dach-Straße or dark and shabby clubs next to each other, or the famous S-Bahn stop Warschauer Brücke, as much alive at night as the glamorous Kurfürstendamm is during the day. (ari)

• Go to Mustafas Gemüsekebab (U6 or U7 stop Mehringdamm) and eat world’s best “Döner Kebap”. If you want to try Berliner “Currywurst”, just turn around and choose “Curry 36”.

• Visit: Brandenburger Tor (go through it, that’s it) and the Cupola of the Reichstag (German parliament). For both: S1 or S2 stop “Brandenburger Tor”.

• Go to Tempelhofer Feld (U stop Luftbrücke, S stop Tempelhof) and enjoy the stroll across Berlins biggest green space. You may never get another chance to walk on the runway of an old (and famous!) airport.

Todo in Berlin

My first impression: Berlin is very colourful. There are so many lights. I have

been here since the 24.12. We went to the Christmas market. A negati-ve impression: I never felt so black. There are some prejudices. Every-thing else is fine, everyone is nice.

„Carol R. Machingura, Midlands State University (Zimbabwe)

I was thinking, the socie-ty would not be so open, but the people are very

open and well educated. I like the architecture. It’s a balance between the past and the present. I took a lot of pictures.

Muhammed A. Ahmad Duhoki, Mesopotamia Debate (Kurdistan of Iraq)

„

This is our first time in Germany. The place is beautiful. It’s not as cold

as I imagined it to be. I was expec-ting minus degrees. The people are friendly.

„Malebeoana Mantsietso Celestine Phafane, National University of Lesotho (Lesotho)

fOTO: PREsTOn fAIdE / JugEndfOTOs.dE

notTodo in Berlin

• Take a Bus - don’t hide in the subway (U) in the underground while travelling around. Most famous bus lines to see half of Berlin: Bus M100 (running up and down “Straße des 17. Juni”, starting at Bahnhof Friedrichsstraße).

• Do not take a picture with anybody in a costume in front of Brandenburger Tor or Checkpoint Charlie. They are not real American or UDSSR soldiers. Those left 22 years ago.

The Berlin WUDC team will try to make your stay as comfortable as possible. They will help you in any occasion. Location: Hotel Berlin Berlin, Interconti, TU mainfloorPhone: +49 174 6171783

Announcements

ContactMartin Funck (mfu)[email protected]+49 151 14163349

EditorsPhilipp Stiel (pst), Alisha Ricard (ari), Christian Landrock (cla),Florian Schertenleib (fsc), Anna Mattes (ama)

LayoutMichael Schultz (typelover.de)

Print run600

Printed byBloch & Co GmbH OffsetdruckereiPrinzessinnenstr. 2610969 Berlin

PARTICIPANT AFFAIRSDessislava “Dessi” Kirova

REgISTRATIONTeresa Widlok

PARTICIPANT INFORMATION Lilian “Lilli” Seffer

TOURNAMENT DIRECTIONGeorg Sommerfeld

CATERINgKhang On

CATERINgChristian Zimpelmann

THE WUDC TEAM

IMPRINT

SPONSORS

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210 arrived: Volunteers on BoardSoon after your arrival, you will have noticed all the people running around with green scarfs and caps in the hotel and at the TU Berlin. Although the weather does not strictly require them for the moment (lucki-ly), they serve as an identifying feature for all WUDC 2013 volunteers. There are a lot of them: more than 200 volunteers, officially called “staff”, will provide a helping hand during WUDC in Berlin. Most stay-ing the whole time, with some even arriving before Christmas for WUDC preparation.

While about half of the volunteers started wor-king for WUDC 2013 only a couple days ago, many people have been part of the organizing committee for months, even years. The last six months saw the number of volunteers involved in preparation grow continually. For the volunteers’ meeting in Septem-ber, more than 50 people came to Berlin for planning and training. This training also helped to integrate volunteers into the Org Com that do not live or debate in Berlin: From all 200 volunteers, more than half come from a place other than Berlin. While 60 originate from the Berlin Debating Union, there are 110 volunteers from other debating societies in Ger-many and 40 international volunteers.

Within the group of international volunteers, there are particularly large numbers from Botswana, India and Serbia. “I got to know WUDC convener Patrick Ehmann when he served as a CA in the Botswana Debating Championship”, says a volunteer from Bo-tswana. “And then I applied to come to Germany in order to help here”. Within Germany, after the Berlin Debating Union, the Johannes-Gutenberg-Debating Society in Mainz is the debating club with the second biggest volunteers delegation at WUDC 2013.

How did the Berliners get the help of so many hands? “It was a constant task of motivating people”, says Marietta Gädeke, Chief of Staff and a debater from Mainz. “For one year we went to every big tour-nament in the German speaking debating scene and told debaters about this great opportunity”, Marietta tells us. And obviously, many people believe in this opportunity: “Even before the tournament started I had learned a lot. Now I have even become a Visa application specialist”, says Teresa Widlok, a debater from Münster and volunteer responsible for partici-pant registration. (pst)

km is the calculated distance all of the participants covered to reach WUDC

6,487,250 NUMBER OF THE DAY

social on the 28th: Opening ceremonyOn the first day of WUDC, the social will take place in the Audimax in TU Berlin. The ceremony starts at 7.30 pm right after dinner, with the Berlin Alphorn Orchestra and the opening lecture from Andreas Kluth, Berlin Bureau Chief of The Economist. Afterwards, there will be a get together with live Jazz. Dresscode: Smart Casual.

social on the 29th: gender nightThe WUDC Gender Night 2013 is supporting women‘s rights by raising money for Terre des Femmes. To do so, the Socials’ Committee is going to start a big auction: Every participant can volunteer by dona-ting a moment of their life or talent to this auction. So start to be creative and participate to support women‘s rights! Come at 9 pm into the Lichthof of TU Berlin. Dresscode: Smart Casual.

Worlds Masters’ cupSee your judges debate, starting on the 28th of December at 9:30 after breakfast in the Audimax with the briefings for the preliminary rounds. There, you will get all the information about your judges debating live at WUDC 2013.

Public speakingEverybody’s chance to speak in front of Millions. The public speaking preliminary rounds will start on the 28th at 10 o’clock. Watch the debaters being funny...or trying to be funny.

External guest to Wudc socialsImportant: If you want to invite external guests to the official WUDC socials (for example because you know they are in Berlin), they need to be on the guest list and pay a 10 Euro entrance fee upfront. In order to get somebody on the guest list, please approach the help desk.

successful scholarship programOn the 26th and 27th of December, more than 90 WUDC participants got extra training from renow-ned debaters. They had the chance to get a WUDC scholarship funded by the Open Society Foundation’s Global Debate program. With this scholarship, it was possible to add 25 more countries to this WUDC as the scholarships were only allocated to participants from those countries that would otherwise not have had the chance to fly to Berlin. With the help of the scholarship program, this WUDC is the most international championship ever.

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