Last week, the team from Paulsen-Gymnasium was awarded the title of Debating Matters Berlin Champions 2026, as they made a decisive and compelling case for free speech against Werner-von-Siemens in the final.
After a day of engaging and passionate debate, the students firmly argued for the motion that ‘Protecting free speech is more important than preventing hate’. Despite challenges from their opponents and the audience, the final debaters – Fred Warner and Nicholas Laffan – credibly defended the classical liberal principle of free speech, maintaining that its value lies in protecting provocative and unpleasant speech. The pair stood firmly in their position that any restrictions on free speech undermine freedom and democracy.
To their credit, the runners-up were also a strong team and offered a clear and persuasive case for moral responsibility. Despite losing in the final, Werner-von-Siemens argued persuasively throughout the day, with both the finalists – Lila Schachel and Kilian Schmidt-Foß – being awarded honourable mentions for their final debate and contributions throughout the day. Maya Georgieva, also from Werner-von-Siemens, was awarded Highly Commended individual as her perceptive questions challenged debaters throughout the competition.
In the semi-finals, Paulsen-Gymnasium and Leibniz-Gymnasium displayed excellent clarity and understanding as they argued over whether assisted dying should be legalised. Both teams made compelling cases case for autonomy and demonstrated the complexity of determining the value of a ‘dignified death’. At the same time, Werner-von-Siemens went up against Eckener, arguing for the motion, displaying notable teamwork and well-rounded context throughout the debate.
About the championship
The competition was hosted at UE’s Berlin campus and was sponsored by Burlington English with prizes donated from Theaterforum Kreuzberg and Cornelsen. Throughout the day, the students were joined by judges from across Germany, with backgrounds in education, journalism, business and sport as they debated social media bans for under-16s, whether Germany should host the Olympic Games, and whether monuments to controversial figures should remain.
The first debate, on social media, reflected the complexity of growing up in the online world, while recognising the importance of maintaining a free space online. Despite the predominant focus on the harms of social media, the debate demonstrated the students’ ability to critically engage with both the realities of the current media environment and the limitations of state (and EU) policies in regulating Big Tech.
For the second debate, we were grateful to be joined by several members of UE’s sport department staff, which elevated the debate on whether Germany should host the Olympic Games. This was a bold and passionate debate, which contested the value of elite and national sport to everyday lives. Is the cost of the Olympics worth investing in or are the funds best spent elsewhere?
The third debate on ‘Monuments to controversial historical figures should remain’ saw a breadth rarely seen for the motion, as the debaters explored what controversial monuments can mean in several international contexts and, with different timespans between their creation, how they gained their ‘controversial’ status. The debate avoided becoming a race to the edges, with both teams carefully constructing arguments that accounted for their own sides weaknesses while remaining firm on their ground, making for a closely fought debate in which momentum switched quickly from team to team.
Individual prizes
Fred Warner from Paulsen was awarded Best Individual for his passionate and articulate debating throughout the day, and his debate partner Nicholas Laffan was awarded an honourable mention for the compelling arguments made in his third debate and the final.
Majda Muller from Leibniz was awarded Commended Individual, as her contributions from the audience throughout the day stood out to the judges and championed the spirit of open and challenging debate.
Additional honourable mentions were awarded to Sait Uygur from Humbolt and Arina Shevtsova from Wilma-Rudolph-Oberschule.
As well as thanking University of Applied Sciences Europe (UE) for hosting the event, we are grateful to be supported by the Freiblickinstitut for the eleventh year. We were also pleased to be joined by a host of Debating Matters alumni, who took on a range of roles from chairing to judging throughout the day, and ensured that the competition carried the Debating Matters ethos of open debate and substantiated arguments.
The competing schools
- Beethoven-Gymnasium
- Diesterweg-Gymnasium
- Eckener-Gymnasium
- Freiherr-vom-Stein-Gymnasium
- Hans-Carossa Gymnasium
- Humboldt-Gymnasium
- Leibniz-Gymnasium
- Nelson-Mandela-Schule
- Paulsen-Gymnasium
- Schadow-Gymnasium
- Werner-von-Siemens-Gymnasium
- Wilma-Rudolph-Oberschule
Get in touch
For further information about the event, the Debating Matters competition or to request photos or interviews with students, teachers, judges and other participants, please contact Emma Gilland on +44 (0)7950 629573 or email emma@ideasmatter.org.uk.
About Debating Matters
Created in 2002, Debating Matters is a UK-based debating competition. DM offers a fresh, accessible and engaging format for debating contemporary real-world issues, with an emphasis on substance, not just style of debating, and the importance of taking ideas seriously.
Debating Matters is a project of Ideas Matter. For more information on the charity, please visit www.ideasmatter.co.uk
Follow Debating Matters on X: @DebatingMatters
For further information about Freiblickinstitut, visit www.freiblickinstitut.de