Association of German Teachers Victoria Writing Competition

The “AGTV Schreibwettbewerb” (Association of German Teachers Victoria Writing Competition) is a writing competition where students of all ages have to respond to a given prompt with a creative or personal text in German. This year the prompt was the painting titled “Der Wanderer über dem Nebelmeer” (Wanderer Above The Sea of Fog), painted in 1818 by Caspar David Friedrich. With a 200 word limit, we could write anything we wanted, whether that be a postcard/letter, a diary entry, a poem or a short story.

“Der Wanderer über dem Nebelmeer” (Wanderer Above The Sea of Fog), Caspar David Friedrich

This year, Chau D (12D) chose to respond with a letter and won first place! She researched Friedrich's childhood and found that his brother drowned at a young age, and chose to write a letter from Friedrich, who is standing on the cliff in the picture, to his deceased brother. Meanwhile Magdalena (Maggie) Umbach (10D) won second place by responding to the prompt with a short story! Knowing that Friedrich had lived his life very isolated and lonely (due to four of his siblings dying at a young age and his mother passing away when he was only seven), Maggie used imagery and metaphors to paint the story of struggle and finding freedom after a long journey. 

Chau D & Maggie U