Brandenburg students shine with innovative projects on Jewish culture!

Brandenburg students shine with innovative projects on Jewish culture!

The Leo Trepp Foundation's student prizes were awarded on June 17, 2025, and the achievements of young talents from Brandenburg testify to an impressive commitment to Jewish history and culture. The winners proudly accepted their awards at a celebratory awards ceremony in the Jewish Museum in Rendsburg. Among the participants were students from the Leonardo Da Vinci Campus Nauen, who demonstrated outstanding achievements in their creative projects on the topic of “Jewish pop culture”.

Sophie Krause, Charis Opitz, Natalie Firoozan and Maya Elliger took first place with their game “Jewish Cultural Journey”. This project aims to convey knowledge about Judaism in a playful way. The players learn about Jewish symbols, films and the music of Leonard Cohen, which addresses the topic in a lively and appealing way. Kai Ried, Felix Michel and Loreena Leimbach won second place with a media case about the composer Erich Wolfgang Korngold, whose works, despite their quality, were largely ignored in the Third Reich due to his Jewish origins.

Important contributions to the culture of remembrance

In total, four of the 32 submitted works came from Brandenburg, which underlines the excellent educational offerings in the region. In his speech, Education Minister Steffen Freiberg emphasized the importance of remembering the crimes of National Socialism and emphasized that such competitions are necessary to sensitize young people to this important issue.

The Leo Trepp Foundation, founded in 2019, has set itself the task of promoting knowledge about Jewish life in Germany. Leo Trepp, who was state rabbi in Oldenburg and was deported to the Sachsenhausen concentration camp in 1938, was committed to the culture of remembrance throughout his life and advocated for an active stand against anti-Semitism and misanthropy. The student competition - a central element of the foundation - is aimed at students in grades 9 to 12 and offers a platform for creative projects that deal with Jewish history and culture.

A competition with perspective

The competition was launched on September 15, 2024 and entries are open until February 28, 2025. Students can submit their projects in a variety of formats, including podcasts, videos, or comic books. They receive support from the foundation, which provides resources and contacts to Israel. Patron Dr. h.c. Charlotte Knobloch and patron Dr. Felix Klein support this valuable contribution to education about Jewish life.

In a larger social context, it is necessary to critically question the perception of Jews in the German media. The discussion about stereotypical representations and clichés in reporting is more current than ever. Jews are often portrayed in stereotypical images, while the real diversity of their lives is hardly highlighted. The influence of German history on this perception cannot be denied and calls on us all to reflect on our own use of language and reporting. It is therefore encouraging to see that competitions such as the Leo Trepp Student Prize are raising awareness of these issues and encouraging younger generations to engage with Jewish culture.

For anyone interested, further information about the Leo Trepp Foundation and future competitions can be found on their website. It's worth being there and becoming active yourself!