Big gala in Hamburg: The best Low German stories honored!

Big gala in Hamburg: The best Low German stories honored!

On June 22, 2025, a very special occasion will be celebrated in Hamburg: the big gala to award the best stories in the Low German writing competition “Vertell Doch mal”. Under the motto “Mit’nanner” (Together), talented authors will gather from 11 a.m. to present their works. The event will be moderated by Yared Dibaba, musician and entertainer, and the Low German editor Ilka Brüggemann. The band Aalkreih provides musical entertainment with their country and rock'n'roll sounds on Platt. There is also a special program note for viewers at home: on the same day at 8:10 p.m. NDR 1 Welle Nord will broadcast a summary of the award ceremony.

“Vertell Doch mal” is not just a simple writing competition, but a tradition that has been carried out by NDR, Radio Bremen and the Hamburg Ohnsorg Theater since 1988. In recent years, more than 44,000 short stories have been accumulated and are archived in the Schleswig-Holstein State Library. The best submissions will be distributed in publications; since 2018 with Husum Verlag. Each story may be a maximum of 1.5 A4 pages long and must be submitted unpublished.

A traditional competition

The historical participant topics range from “Wiehnachten tohuus” in 1989 to this year’s “Mit’nanner”. In 1994 the competition was awarded the Low German Literature Prize of the city of Kappeln and has enjoyed great popularity ever since. The competition promotes the Low German language and culture in our region and offers a platform for countless creative minds.

This year, 25 authors are taking part in the final round, and the winning stories are worth a total of 5,400 euros. If you want to see the first-class stories, you should look forward to the new “Vertell noch mal” book, in which the 25 finalist works will be published. Interested young writing enthusiasts are not forgotten either: As part of the competition, a special prize is awarded for participants under the age of 18.

A look at the future

After the gala, the next submission deadlines have already been set. From January 28th to March 15th, 2024, stories can be submitted for the competition theme “Ünner de Sünn” (Under the Sun). Bestselling author Dörte Hansen acts as an ambassador and encourages everyone to share their individual stories in Low German. Participation is possible both by email and by post.

The competition is not only an opportunity to be creative and tell stories, but also makes a valuable contribution to preserving our culture. Whether old or young, everyone can take part and let their voice be heard in the Low German community. So “Vertell noch mal” remains an integral part of the northern German literary landscape, which will continue to inspire many storytellers in the future.

For more information on the stories entered in the competition and the upcoming event, visit the website NDR, Wikipedia and Radio Bremen.