We are a diverse group of people who enjoy the art of logical argumentation, learning about new aspects of our world and improving our public speaking skills.
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).
Sarah’s debating career started in Helsinki, where she lasted four months before she was told at Riga IV that the CA with the curly hair is from Vienna as well. “Vienna has a really good debating society” dragged her out of the dark (cit. Falco) back to our city. Technically she’s an Italian citizen from South Tyrol, but we never cease to ragebait her that South Tyrol is just Austria with better pizza and a paperwork error from 1919. She denies the Austriacy more or less patiently at every opportunity.
She is currently doing a master’s in psychology, which explains a lot. You’ll never quite know if she’s listening to you or diagnosing you, and she’ll never tell. (Apparently this joke was a regular at every house party since the start of her studies.) Given how many people she talks to at every social, the dataset must be enormous by now. If you’ve been to a DK Wien event and haven’t spoken to Sarah, you probably weren’t there.
I’ve debated a fair few comps with her, and in every one of them she was the reasonable one. While I was busy constructing a six-step mechanism for why the motion would collapse the global order, Sarah was quietly winning the round on boring things the judges actually cared about. Someone has to keep the team grounded, and she does it without ever making you feel like you needed grounding. Now she’s doing the same for the whole club as president, and frankly we’d be lost without her.
(Bio written by Christopher)
This website and our trainings might be the only places you can find Christopher for sure, because otherwise you can never be sure where he is. Nobody is surprised anymore when Chris calls from another country or a stranger’s car. He was hitchhiking through Jordan exactly when everyone saw its neighbouring countries in the news. He trained that adventurous spirit at the scouts, where he is still an active member.
Hitchhiking isn’t just for holidays: Chris discovered that by starting two days earlier you can get to a tournament in Zurich basically for free, and, scout-like, he trains our freshers to do the same.
His money-conscious mind makes him a great treasurer who won’t sign off on irresponsible spending (except maybe a DK Wien bus). His adventurous spirit makes him a great debate partner. He is adventurous not only in pitching crazy cases (“it’s doable, we just need more mechanisms”; in his view, the problem is always too few mechanisms) but also in trying to prove the judge wrong for giving him a third in the call (you never know, maybe they’ll regret it). He insists his big gestures and critical facial expressions are not discouraging. As our resident devil’s advocate in board meetings (wouldn’t wanna miss it, mostly), he’s welcome to argue that case too, though we suspect it needs more mechanisms.
Besides causing a stir in top rooms, he is an AI software developer. Even if AI takes over its own development, he’ll find a job for sure: Chris is super reliable. When he says he will do something, he actually does it, and he does it well. That’s why nobody could believe how young he was when he joined the club. Not even his school: they made him graduate two years early (by accident, or because they knew he was destined for greater things at DK Wien?). Good that he’s here now!
(Bio written by Sarah)
Amira is the clubs secretary and local business whiz. She studies Business Administration at the WU so you can count on her to know how to run a debate club. Aside from her degree and her 1,5 years of debate experience in DK Wien, Amira has spent 4 years debating in Kazakhstan. All this experience is reflected in her debate skills, which you will see flexed at every tournament she attends.
If you can’t find her at a debate tournament on any given weekend, you can be almost certain that she’s absolutely destroying her opponents at a volleyball tournament. Considering all her hobbies, when she finds time to sleep is a mystery to us all. But wherever she is, she’s probably not only winning but also likely the kindest and most down to earth person in the room.
(Bio written by Adora)
As a true Viennese, Dominik is something of a rare sight in our club and frequently expresses his discontent with unfair or unsatisfying situations: For example, you may hear him complain loudly about the food at debating competitions, which is no wonder as he set the bar for food at tournaments really really high! An exceptional chef himself—something you might soon learn more about at your favorite bookstore—he always makes sure that his guests enjoy elegant dishes, fine wine and the best company.
He’s also cooking (as the kids say these days) as a debater. His ambition, strategic thinking and creativity for finding good cases make him not only an amazing debate partner and a quite successful speaker at both German and international comps but also a great sparring partner for insightful political discussions! Additionally, the experience, reliability and pragmatism he brings as legal expert and policy advisor are a real asset to the club. Together with his high motivation, they’ll prove crucial in his mission to professionalize our club even further.
When he’s not debating, his friendliness and openness towards other people (rather atypical qualities for a Viennese) mean he’s usually traveling to cities all over Europe, emptying a good bottle of rosé with his friends or enjoying a musical.
(Bio written by Luca)
Luca studies Political Science and also works as a research assistant. So it is no surprise that he embodies the scientific spirit quite naturally. With his sharp and analytical mind, he carefully weighs up the pros and cons, has an unwavering faith in data, and – perhaps a little optimistically – believes in the rational behaviour of most human beings.
His intellectual curiosity, self-reflection and good reasoning make him not only a formidable debater, but also a wonderful debate partner. He has a talent for spotting logical gaps in his opponents’ arguments, delivering his own points with precision and remaining impressively calm throughout. Nevertheless his composed manner should never be mistaken for a lack of analytical bite.
On top of that he is also an excellent listener and someone you can always count on for thoughtful, respectful and genuinely helpful advice.
Outside the world of politics and intellectual debate, Luca enjoys watching sports (and spending what I consider rather unreasonable amounts of money on football shirts), appreciates excellent food and a good glass of wine, and firmly believes that shaving his beard is a sacred ritual during which a man is entitled to absolute peace and quiet.
(Bio written by Dominik)
Adora is the kind of person who can light up the entire room on a dark winter evening just by walking in with her smile. But behind that warm smile is a great debater with 4 years of experience, 5 major breaks, and a successful former presidency at Debate Club Munich under her belt.
If that isn’t enough to impress you, she is also managing to study Law in Munich and Philosophy in Vienna at the same time. And when she’s not busy winning tournaments, you’ll likely find her playing board games — which she takes very seriously and can be sad if she loses.
Given her incredible debate skills, energy, and sharp mind, we couldn’t be happier to have her on the Club Board as our Vice Secretary this year – keeping us and our trainings organised, inspired, and (hopefully) winning at board games.
(Bio written by Amira)