Calling all students in the UK and Ireland with an interest in German history and culture! The German History Society invites submissions to our Creative Research Contest.

First prize: £250, plus £250 for the school to purchase materials to support history teaching.

Second prize: £150

We have produced a series of German history videos on themes including First World War POWs, 18th century food, board games, politics, gardening and illustration, the Holocaust, and the postwar rebuilding of West Germany. We would like you to take inspiration from one of the videos and carry out a research project on a related theme.

We welcome projects exploring any time period and any part of the German-speaking lands. Perhaps you want to write about food cultures in Germany, Austria, or Switzerland—what about the history of Swiss chocolate, or the significance of the Döner Kebab? Perhaps you want to explore some aspect of the Holocaust or the efforts of Jews in other time periods to resist antisemitism. Maybe you’ve got an interest in violence during the Weimar period or the lives of POWS in any era. How about medieval and early modern science or the impact of the printing press? What about art and illustration in a medieval illumination or a modern graphic novel?

All we require is that you 1) develop your ideas based on research into historical sources and scholarship, 2) include a list of your sources, responsibly referenced, and 3) present your ideas in a creative manner! Your submission could take the form of an essay (ca. 1000 words), a podcast or video (ca. 5 minutes), a digital exhibition, poetry, a short story, or other forms we might not even imagine—the choice is yours.

The deadline for submissions is 5pm on 30 July 2024, but you can submit earlier if you wish. Please send entries to Jeff Bowersox at [email protected] with name, age, and school details. Also feel free to get in touch with any questions about the contest or about your topics.

We welcome submissions from all ages, but any under-16s who want to take part must have their entries sent to us by a parent or teacher.

We look forward to seeing your creative research!

Jeff Bowersox, PhD
Outreach officer, German History Society
Associate Professor of German History and Director of German Studies, UCL