A German Classic 2025:
Rainer Maria Rilke's Neue Gedichte/New Poems (Part I : 1907, Part II: 1908)
Our set text in 2025 was a selection of poems by Rainer Maria Rilke (1875 – 1926), widely regarded as one of the most important German-language poets.
In addition to our essay competition, we introduced a Discovery Section designed especially for those with no prior knowledge of German, making the competition more accessible than ever.
Selected poems:
Der Panther (The Panther)
Das Einhorn (The Unicorn)
Jugend-Bildnis meines Vaters (Portrait of My Father as a Young Man)
Römische Fontäne (Roman Fountain)
Das Karussell (The Merry-Go-Round)
Spanische Tänzerin (Spanish Dancer)
Archaïscher Torso Apollos (Archaic Torso of Apollo)
Papageien-Park (The Parrot House)
Die Flamingos (The Flamingos)
Der Ball (The Ball)
We are delighted to announce the following prizewinners:
First Prize (£500): Benjamin Baker
Joint Second Prize (£300): Carlo von der Tann and Ruoying Xu Joint
Third Prize (£100): Max Latif and Millie Aked
The essays by Isobel Watson and Anna De Vince were awarded a High Commendation by the judges,
and the essays by Saskia Sinfield-Hain, Amabel Jones and Alexander Chokin were awarded a Commendation.
The essay by Sereny Staite in the category ‘Discover a German Classic’ was awarded a Commendation.
The judges were most impressed with the quality of the submissions overall and commented on the sophistication with which the entries engaged with these challenging poems, their themes and the complexities of lyric analysis.
'A German Classic', Oxford German Network's essay competition for sixth formers, was established with the generous sponsorship of Jonathan Gaisman, KC, and aims to stimulate interest in great German writers and influential literary works in German.
For all details about eligibility, study packs, essay questions, submission, judging criteria, and more, see here.
QUERIES
If you have any questions, please email the Prize Coordinator, Santhia Velasco Kittlaus, at germanclassic@mod-langs.ox.ac.uk.