Successful participation in the reading competition

The final of this year’s reading competition took place on 6 March. The event was hosted by the Hessian State Representation and organised by Kerstin Karwoth, our school librarian and media representative in collaboration with Agnes Bleile, Head of German Studies at the European School Brussels I.

The participating students, who faced the five-member jury, came from the German-speaking sections of European Schools I to IV and from the iDSB. The jury consisted of: Ms Anna Lischka from the Austrian Cultural Forum, Mr Gerhard Salbeck from the Goethe Institute, Ms Fatma Girretz from the Representation of the German-speaking Community and Petar from the European School 1 in Uccle, who won last year’s reading competition.

Marius Schmitz from class 6a represented the iDSB and achieved an excellent third place in a high-quality competition. His classmates, who supported him with homemade posters, were proud of him.

The reading by author Birgit Gröger, whose work deals with the current refugee situation, was also particularly exciting. “The story about Alima from Aleppo caused complete silence in the hall. The words she read touched all listeners with their warmth and heartfelt emotion. During her reading, Birgit Gröger managed to make everyone share in the protagonist’s difficult fate. The author’s friendly manner and her meaningful words left a lasting impression, especially on the pupils,” said Kerstin Karwoth.

In addition, this year’s ‘Bücheralarm’ campaign will feature a podcast for the first time, allowing the event to be experienced digitally. The podcast, produced as part of the reading competition in Brussels, will be available on all major streaming providers on 23 March 2026.

We are already looking forward to participating in this very worthwhile competition again next year!

Photos: Zacarias Garcia