We are a diverse group of people who enjoy the art of logical argumentation and structured discussion. We are open to anyone who wants to join and have no political or university affiliations.
We are the most successful debating club in Austria and one of the most internationally successful debate clubs in the German-speaking region.
As such, we aim to provide you with training to match – that’s why our trainers include World Championship Semi-Finalists and European Vice Champions! Our training sessions happen twice a week during lecture periods in both English and German, so language is no barrier when it comes to starting debating with us!
We also travel to international tournaments, including South Africa, Thailand, Mexico and almost all European countries and capitals. These are great opportunities to connect and build friendships with people from all corners of the globe. But if you want to stay a little more regional, we also have you covered – we’re also active in the German speaking circuit, where tournaments are just a quick train ride away.
In addition to that, we regularly host tournaments ourselves and welcome some of the most successful international debaters to Vienna.
Finally, we are a great place to make new friends! Grabbing a pizza together after training has become basically a cornerstone of the club, but we also often meet up outside of debating – be it ruining our vocal chords at a karaoke bar, having a chill BBQ or having found a more or less reasonable excuse for a party. With the era of online debating, we also hang out on our Discord server after online tournaments (or whenever we feel like it).
I’m a math PhD student at the University of Vienna and have been around in DK since 2019. Ultimately, I mainly started debating out of curiosity and stuck around because I find it fun, with improved public speaking being a neat bonus. Despite taking part in over 20 tournaments over the years, my focus always tended to be more on making sure the club runs as smoothly as possible from day to day.
Be it at training, spars, tournaments or workshops – odds are you’ll bump into me at some point! And that’s probably not a threat!
Hey, Aleks here: Physics bachelor student doing my part to ensure a gradual STEM takeover in the club since 2021. In the one year I’ve been a part of DK Wien, it’s been a joy to work on some of the coolest projects I’ve ever been a part of, with some of the coolest people in debating.
When I’m not loudly banging on tables during debates, I’ll probably be updating our social media, finding ways to collaborate with other amazing debate societies, going to the cheapest tournaments, and putting my all into making sure the tournaments we organize are some of the best there are!
Hi, I’m Paula and I discovered DK Wien in 2019, just when I started university. Initially I joined to improve my public speaking skills, but I soon got drawn in by the appeal of international debating – the competition as well as the community formed around it.
To quote Aleks: If I don’t know everyone at a tournament already, I will by the end of the evening. I’m an Economics Bachelor’s student and this also fits my role in the club, being treasurer the second year in a row.