Why 'A German Classic'?

'A German Classic' was launched in 2017 thanks to a generous donation by Jonathan Gaisman, QC. It is designed to celebrate a different literary classic each year and encourage in-depth study by creating a wide range of resources that open up different perspectives on the concerns at the heart of the work. The links to interviews and discussions, articles and performances remain available on our website to inspire ongoing interest in these works beyond the year of the competition.

The Oxford German Network is grateful to Jonathan Gaisman, whose generous donation has made this prize possible. Now a distinguished QC, Jonathan Gaisman first encountered the German language as a schoolboy, and this sparked an enthusiasm for German literature that has stayed with him ever since. Click here to read his account of how he was inspired by German literature as a schoolboy and as a university student. To find out more about Jonathan Gaisman and his interest in German, click here for a longer interview with him. He there also talks about his fascination with Faust, Part I, the German Classic by Goethe which we featured in 2017.

Previous rounds of the German Classic Prize

Interested in Goethe's Faust, Schiller's Maria Stuart, Hoffmann's Der Sandmann or Mann's Der Tod in Venedig? Click here, here, here and here for details and further resources from the first four rounds of 'A German Classic'. The grand prize ceremony for the first round of the essay competition was held in the Bodleian Library's Blackwell Hall in Oxford on 19th June 2018. At the ceremony, Jonathan Gaisman gave a speech to introduce the prize and outlined its aims, by highlighting how important it is to engage with German literature - and how fun that can be. For more information about the inaugral prize ceremony, including comments from the prize-winners, see here. To see the report from our second ceremony in 2019, see here.

A German Classic 2021:
Heinrich von Kleist, Die Verlobung in St. Domingo

We are delighted to announce the launch of the 2021 edition of 'A German Classic' – Oxford's essay competition for sixth-form students. This year we would like to invite you to read with us one of the most influential German novellas of all time, Heinrich von Kleist's Die Verlobung in St. Domingo (1811). The story is set in the Caribbean, in what is today the Republic of Haiti, at the time of the insurrection of self-liberated slaves against French colonial rule that led to the country’s independence in 1804. Against this dramatic historical background develops an ill-fated love story between Toni, a mixed-race teenage girl, and Gustav, a white traveller from Europe. Kleist's take on race relations, civil unrest, and the power imbalance inherent in both colonial structures and gender dynamics has clear resonances in the twenty-first century. Told in Kleist's signature narrative style, which has influenced countless writers since the nineteenth century, Die Verlobung in St. Domingo is an excellent introduction to German literature. We hope you will want to study it with us!

For information on study packs that students can request for free by 12 noon, Friday, 25 June 2021, eligibility, prizes, essay questions, submission process, and judging criteria, see the participation guidelines. The deadline for essay submissions is at 12 noon, Wednesday, 15 September 2021. If you have any questions, please email the Prize Coordinator, Dr Karolina Watroba, at germanclassic@mod-langs.ox.ac.uk.

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German Classics Prize

A German Classic 2021: Heinrich von Kleist, Die Verlobung in St. Domingo

A German Classic 2021:
Heinrich von Kleist, Die Verlobung in St. Domingo