real-life meetup of Wikipedians took place in October 2003 in Munich. As a result of this meeting regularly striking round tables (called “Wikipedia-Stammtisch”) established themselves at various places in Germany, Austria and Switzerland. The round tables have become an important aspect of collegial exchange within the German-speaking community. Each spring and autumn, the German Wikipedia organizes a writing contest, where a community-elected jury rates nominated articles. Prizes are sponsored by individual community members and companies. The first contest was held in October 2004 - the article Kloster Lehnin (Lehnin Abbey) was selected as the winner from 44 nominated articles. The second contest, held in March 2005, saw 52 contributions, and the third, in September 2005, 70. A trial to extend the contest to an international level met with limited success, with only the Dutch, English and Japanese Wikipedias participating. For the March 2006 writing contest, the 150 nominated articles were split into three sections: history and society (56 nominations), arts and humanities (36), and science (46). The article on the Brown Bear (German: Braunbär) won, and of the nominated 27 articles reached featured status a few weeks after the contest. In March 2007, the sixth contest was held, with the winner being the article on the Hague Convention for the Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict (German: Haager Konvention zum Schutz von Kulturgut bei bewaffneten Konflikten). German Wikipedians organized the first international Wikipedia conference, Wikimania 2005, in August 2005 in Frankfurt. Some 300 people from over 50 countries attended the three-day conference. From 17 March to 15 April 2006, the Göttingen State and University Library held a special exhibition documenting the first five years of Wikipedia. In 2006, the University of Göttingen hosted the first Wikipedia Academy. The academy was intended to familiarize the academic world with Wikimedia projects. In 2007, the second such meeting took place, organized in conjunction with the Akademie der Wissenschaften und der Literatur (Academy of Science and Literature) in Mainz as part of the German Jahr der Geisteswissenschaften (Year of the Humanities), which was decreed by the German Federal Ministry for Education and Research. A third meeting was organized on 20–21 June 2008 in Berlin, during the Jahr der Mathematik (Year of Mathematics); the meeting was hosted by the Berlin-Brandenburg Academy of Sciences and Humanities. German Wikipedians have since organised the Foto-Workshop meeting of photographers, with participants from 10 countries. Contacts