Oxford German Olympiad 2025:   

 Spiel und Sport

Welcome to our 13th Oxford German Olympiad!

This competition is now open. Closing date for all entries is Thursday 6 March 2025, at 12 noon.

Download the full competition details and guidelines here. 

 

Please note:

- All entries must be submitted via the online entry form. 

- Each participant may only enter for one task within their age group as an INDIVIDUAL entrant. We will only accept group entries (2-4 participants) for the "Open Competition for Groups" category. 

- We require a consent form for under-13 participants. For group entries, we require a consent form for each group member under 13. Click here to download the form.

NOTE TO TEACHERS: Teachers can submit their students´ entries in bulk. Please contact olympiad@mod-langs.ox.ac.uk for instructions.

 

The Competition Tasks

Choose one of the tasks appropriate for your age group.
All tasks to be completed in German, unless indicated otherwise.
Please refer to our full competition details and guidelines for word count guidance.

 

Years 5 and 6 (age 9-11): 

1. Draw a map for a Schatzsuche (treasure hunt) and label the locations and things that are hidden there.

2. Invent a Spielzeug (toy) you would enjoy playing with and draw it, labelling its parts. 

3. Draw a comic strip of a Sportfest (sports day) with at least 20 words.  

 

Years 7 to 9 (age 11-14): 

1. Create a new Brettspiel (board game) for four players and explain how to play it, in writing or in a video. 

2. Pick your favourite sportsperson and create a comic strip about their life or a special event in their life. 

3. Write an essay on the topic "Meine Lieblingsrolle" about a theatre or film part you have actually played or imagine playing.

 

Years 10 and 11 (age 14-16): 

1. Develop a proposal in German for a video game, presenting it with drawings, photos or in video format. 

2. Design a set of word puzzles to test your friends on their German vocabulary (e.g. crossword, word search).  

3. Write profiles of two inspiring athletes at the Olympic Games in Paris, one of whom competed in the Olympics and one in the Paralympics. 

 

Years 12 and 13 (age 16-18): 

1. Write a proposal for a new sport to be included in the Olympic Games. 

2. "E-Sport oder echter Sport?" Create a conference brochure with keynote papers, workshops and activities. 

3. Research the history of the 'Violin of the Shoah' or another historic instrument and tell the story of who played it, where, and when, from the perspective of the instrument.   

 

Open Competition for Groups (2-4 participants):  

1. Make a video of yourselves playing a piece of music and explain what is special about it and why you enjoy playing together. 

2. Make a video of yourselves demonstrating your favourite sport and explaining its rules to an alien.
   OR
   Invent a new sport with its own rules, equipment and how to score points, and present it in a video.  

3. Create a concept for a game show, including rules, rounds and prizes, and present it as a brochure or a video. 

 

Discover German - Taster Competition (for participants with no prior experience of studying German) 

Years 5 and 6: Draw a picture of the best ever Spieltruhe (play-chest) filled with all your favourite games, and label them.  

Years 7 to 9: Create a Wortsuche (word search) or Kreuzworträtsel (crossword) with at least 10 German words for different sports OR different musical instruments. 

Years 10 and 11: Design a brochure for a board game café, where people can come together to play games.  

Years 12 and 13:  Create two spider diagrams for words formed from the nouns 'Spiel' and 'Sport' (equivalent to e.g. sport - sporty, sportsday), providing a translation in brackets under each word.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

First Photo by Tri Le on Pixabay. 
Second Photo by Alexa via Pixabay.

 

 

 

The Oxford German Network is grateful for the support of the following:

 

Founding Partners:

Jesus College, Oxford

Bodleian Libraries, University of Oxford

Magdalen College School, Oxford

BMW Group Plant Oxford

 

 

Donor of the German Classic Prize: Jonathan Gaisman QC

 

The Oxford German Network gratefully acknowledges

the generous support of ALL and ISMLA to the Oxford German Olympiad.

 

The Oxford German Olympiad is generously supported by Lidl GB.

 

Additional prizes have been generously donated by the following:

 

Austrian Cultural Forum London

Blackwell UK Ltd.

British-German Association

Camden House (Boydell & Brewer)

Embassy of Switzerland in the United Kingdom

German Embassy London

Goethe Institut, London

Oxford-Bonn Link

Oxford University Press

Penguin Books

White Rose Project

 

 

The Oxford German Network would like to thank the Bodleian Libraries for permission to use the Blackwell Hall in the Weston Library.