On 8 April 2026, Marianne Langwieser-Posawetz, lecturer in teaching methodology at the Department of Romance Studies, organised the 2026 Austrian National Foreign Language Competition in Italian with the active support of students and her colleagues Simona Bartoli-Kucher and Michele Cribari. The competition took place at the ECML/EFSZ in Graz (European Centre for Modern Languages of the Council of Europe, Nikolaiplatz) and, in addition to the Italian competition, also included an English competition, which was supervised by Heidrun Lang-Heran together with colleagues from the Department of English.
The meticulous preparations contributed to a wonderful event. High-ranking representatives from the political sphere (Deputy Governor Ms Manuela Khom, Mr Robert Mörth from the Styrian Provincial Council, Deputy Mayor Ms Judith Schwentner) and educational institutions (Director of Education Ms Elisabeth Meixner, Coordinator of Modern Foreign Languages Gerald Hafner, Deputy Head of the Institute of Romance Studies Steffen Schneider) were able to witness the pupils’ excellent Italian skills for themselves, as were numerous teachers. The national title in Italian went to Simon Peer from the Franziskaner Public Grammar School in Hall/Tyrol; second place was taken by Oleksandra Bratko from the Ingeborg Bachmann Grammar School in Klagenfurt, and Moritz Krompaß from the Pestalozzi Grammar School in Graz was awarded third place.
We are delighted for the winners and offer them our warmest congratulations! We would also like to extend our heartfelt thanks to our colleague Marianne Langwieser-Posawetz for her outstanding commitment, to Simona Bartoli-Kucher and Michele Cribari for their valuable support, and to all the sponsors for the generous prizes.
Press coverage:
Styrian of the Day (Kleine Zeitung):
Hallo Steiermark (radio report):
https://steiermark.orf.at/player/20260409/STHAL/1775733309000