The “Black Forest Cup” debate tournament was held in Freiburg on 5–6 November. It brought together 60 debaters from across Germany to lock horns in a display of rhetorical skill. The tournament received financial support from Alumni Freiburg e.V.

For most of the participants, the tournament weekend started on Friday evening with a welcome meeting, where they were able to meet up with old friends, make new ones, and rest from their journey. The debating began on Saturday morning after a hearty breakfast in a large lecture hall at the university. Four preliminary rounds on topics from business, politics, and ethics were held to determine which student teams would qualify for the knockout rounds on Sunday. Despite the competitive atmosphere, the debaters found more than enough time to socialize on this day. A party on Saturday evening gave them a chance to chat with friends from far away towns over a dinner of spaetzle and salad. The excitement grew as the head jurors finally took the stage to announce who had made it to the knockout rounds.

On Sunday morning the participants met to cross swords one last time at the Volkshochschule, Freiburg’s adult education center. Only the best two teams in the semifinals would qualify for the final. The suspense was palpable as the head jurors Marion Seiche, Christian Strunck, and Tobias Kube announced the results: One of the Freiburg teams had made it into the finals, along with the teams from Mainz, Tübingen, and Iserlohn/Münster.

The topic debated at the finals was whether the opponents of Brexit in the British Parliament should defy the result of the referendum by voting against Brexit or not. The participants and guests followed an exciting debate in the beautiful baroque auditorium of the Volkshochschule: The discussion essentially revolved around whether the potentially serious consequences of a Brexit justified a vote against the referendum and whether this adequately reflected the will of the people. The winners were the opposition team members Julian Vaterrodt (Iserlohn) and Philipp Schmidtke (Münster). The prize for the best speech went to Willy Witthaut (Mainz).