Selected Events 2008  

From left: Kerstin Kirschke, students, Consul Wenig, and Dr. Arne Ackermann

April 18, 2008. Consul for Public Affairs Mark Wenig gave the opening remarks at this year’s annual "Battle of the Books" competition, which took place at the Leipzig public library, one of the consulate's America@YourLibrary partners. The director of the library, Dr. Arne Ackermann, welcomed the group of about 50 students and their teachers. Since its inauguration four years ago, the Consulate General Leipzig has supported this English language reading and literature competition. This year, 8 schools from 5 federal German states participated – a record number, and pushing the event to capacity – with the Consulate’s region of Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt, and Thuringia dominating the list of participants. Kerstin Kirschke, an English teacher at the Hildebrand Gymnasium in Markkleeberg, the initiator and organizer of the program, selected the books for the competition and Consul Wenig donated one set of these same titles to the Leipzig public library. Ten Americans, mainly Fulbright teaching assistants, volunteered their weekend to judge the competition.