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Oxford German Olympiad 2019

Krampus figure in Salzburg, Austria (photo by Matthias Kabel). https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Krampus_Salzburg_2.jpg

Oxford German Olympiad 2019:

Tiere und Monster

The Competition Tasks


Click here for some of our thoughts and ideas about animals and monsters in the German-speaking world: from appearances in fiction and art to tourist destinations and current debates.

Download the full competition details and guidelines here.

Please note that we require a signed consent form for under-18 participants to be uploaded alongside competition entries (see guidelines for information). Click here to download the form. 

Years 5 and 6 (age 9-11):

  • Draw a monster and label its parts.

Years 7 to 9 (age 11-14):

  • 'Gibt es wirklich Monster?' Write a dialogue between two people who disagree about whether monsters really exist.
  • Create an advertising brochure for a zoo or wildlife sanctuary.

Years 10 and 11 (age 14-16):


Years 12 and 13 (age 16-18):

  • 'Was tun Zoos für den Artenschutz?' Write an article using the information on the website of the Berlin Zoo and at least one other German, Austrian or Swiss zoo.
  • Create a comedy sketch retelling Kafka's Die Verwandlung. Submit it as a script or a filmed performance.
  • Write a short story about a female monster.

Open Competition for Groups or Classes (4+ participants)

  • Create a film or PowerPoint presentation about Tierversuche.
  • 'Unser Leben mit einem Monster.' Create a film or song on this theme.

Discover German - Taster Competition (1-3 participants with no prior experience of studying German)

  • Years 12 and 13: choose three of the following animal nouns: Hund, Katze, Schwein, Pferd, Kuh, Schaf, Hase, Vogel. Find compound words (e.g. Osterhase - Easter Bunny) and idioms (e.g. Schwein haben - to be lucky) that contain them. Write a blog post about how you found them and what differences from English you discovered. 

The Oxford German Network is grateful to the Association for Language Learning, the Independent Schools' Modern Languages Association, Camden House and New Books in German for their support of the Oxford German Olympiad and to Oxford University Press, the German Embassy, the Embassy of Switzerland in the United Kingdom, Blackwell UK Ltd., the German Tourist Office (London), the Goethe Institut (London), the Austrian Cultural Forum (London) and Penguin Books for the donation of prizes for the Oxford German Olympiad.