News and Updates

Houstonfest Scholarships - 2026 Winners Announced!

Scholarships at State

NEW: Pass auf! Preparation

Houstonfest history

Changes and updates for 2026

Arrival at Kingwood High School

Lunch options
 

Teacher-to-teacher tips

Tips for Pair Discussion

Daily log of changes to State-qualifier list

State promo video contest

Contest promo video #1 (students from one school tell why they love contest)

Contest promo video #2 (one student tells why she loves contest)

Contest promo video #3 (hilarious 2024 State-winning submission from our own Klein Oak High School!)

Contest promo video #4 (2025 State-winning submission from Cedar Ridge High School)

Photo gallery

Important Dates

Mon., Jan. 12, 2026, 4:00 p.m.: Application for transportation grants from the Houston Saengerbund opens; link will be sent to teachers.

Fri., Jan. 16, 2026, 11:59 p.m.: Application for transportation grants from the Houston Saengerbund closes.

Wed., Jan. 21, 2026, 11:59 p.m.: Houstonfest registration spreadsheet due for regular price of $15/student (payment does not have to be mailed until 1/28).

Wed., Jan. 28, 2026, 11:59 p.m.: Houstonfest registration spreadsheet due for late price of $20/student. Deadline to postmark Houstonfest payment.

Sat., Jan. 31, 2026, 9:00 a.m.: Submission of entries in the 7 virtual Houstonfest events due (get the link to the Google Form from your teacher - it was sent to teachers on Tue., Jan. 27).

Tue., Feb. 3, 2026, 11:59 p.m.: Remote judging of the 7 virtual Houstonfest events ends.

Wed., Feb. 4, 2026, 10:00 p.m.: Houstonfest changes (adds, drops, substitutions) due. After this point, no more changes will be allowed.

Sat., Feb. 7, 2026:  Houstonfest, Kingwood High School, Houston.

Fri., Feb. 13, 2026, 11:59 p.m.: State online registration due for "early bird" price of $15/student (payment does not have to be mailed until 2/21).

Wed., Feb. 18, 2026, 11:59 p.m.: State online registration due for regular price of $20/student (payment does not have to be mailed until 2/21).

Sat., Feb. 21, 2026, 9:00 a.m.: Submission of entries in the 7 virtual State events due (get the link to a Google Form from your teacher). Also, Mary El-Beheri Memorial Scholarship and Sandra Dieckman GTHS Memorial Scholarship applications due (to submit the application, get the link to a Google Form from your teacher). Deadline to postmark your State payment.

Mon., Feb. 23, 2026, 8:00 p.m.: Entries in State promotional video contest due to State director. Link to submission form was emailed to teachers on Fri., Feb. 20.

Tue., Feb. 24, 2026, 11:59 p.m.: Remote judging of the 7 virtual State events ends.

Sat., Feb. 28, 2026: Texas State German Contest, Texas State University, San Marcos.

Sat., Mar. 7, 2026, 11:59 p.m.: Houstonfest Scholarship applications due.

Sun., Mar. 15, 2026: Gail Cope State Scholarship applications due (link to application form was sent to teachers by State director on 3/2/26).

between Thu., Jan. 1 and Thu., Apr. 30, 2026: submit Gail Cope Teacher Grant applications.

Pass auf! Preparation

This page is your one-stop shop for your Pass auf! preparations. Even though this is housed on the Houstonfest site, it's meant as a resource for everyone in the state. It's housed here because Rustin Buck is both the Houstonfest director (with rights to edit this website) and the State Pass auf! coordinator. Check back frequently for new materials!

Pass auf! rules as PDF

Special Topic

Pass auf! study guide

This is the most important resource of all! In contrast to the study materials available a few years ago, it now incorporates the Erdkunde vocabulary list and the list of proverbs that you should know for Odds & Ends along with practically all topics contained in the Pass auf! question bank. It will be updated about once a year.

Novice study list 2026

(for the 2027 list, check back in September 2026)

This is the most important resource for the Novice level. It is compiled AFTER the Novice question rounds for the current year have been assembled and reflects the EXACT topics that you need to study to be successful that year. The list for each year's contest will be published in the preceding fall, most likely in September.

IMPORTANT: Live Zoom training sessions

I intend to offer a series of live Zoom sessions starting in fall 2026, either weekly or bimonthly. Because of my work schedule, they will almost certainly be on Thursday evenings, but they will also be recorded and posted here for anyone to view 24/7. I know that Thursday evenings might not suit everyone, but I hope to have at least a few students in each live session so that I'm not just talking to myself. Each session will last up to an hour and focus on one or two specific clusters of knowledge that are covered in the Pass auf! question bank (for instance: food, holidays, scientists, the EU, etc.). I won't be giving away specific questions, but you can be guaranteed that if I bring up something during a session, there's a question about it in the bank. If you (as a student or a teacher) are interested in receiving specific details about these sessions when they become available (dates, times, Zoom links), please use this Google form to...

Join my email list about Zoom training sessions.

I will also send info about the first few meetings to all contest-participating teachers statewide, so that they can pass it on to interested students, but eventually, that will become annoying and cumbersome for everyone and it will be better if I can communicate directly with the people who are interested.

Jump to library of training-session videos (currently empty)

Video of a sample game

This video features the late Terry Smith, founder and decades-long organizer of the game. It's a tad outdated in that it features the now defunct Grammar category instead of the relatively new Current Events & Special Topic category, but otherwise it is still a very accurate depiction of how a Pass auf! game works.

Bundesländer/Kantone and bordering countries of D-A-CH

These questions won't come around every year, but sometimes you're asked to name all the Bundesländer of D or A, some of the cantons of CH, a town or two in FL besides Vaduz, or all the countries that border D or A or CH or FL. Here are Sporcle quizzes (and a few other types) to practice those skills as well as the skills of identifying the Bezirke of Berlin and identifying particular Bundesländer/Kantone both on a map and by their coats of arms:

List the Bundesländer of A (accepts German names)

List the Bundesländer of D (accepts German names)

List the cantons of CH (accepts German names except Genf)

Click the correct Bundesland of A on a map (uses English names)

Click the correct Bundesland of D on a map (uses English names)

Click the correct canton of CH on a map (uses a mix of languages for names)

List the countries bordering A (uses English names but know the German ones)

List the countries bordering D (uses English names but know the German ones)

List the countries bordering CH (uses English names but know the German ones)

German names of all countries bordering D-A-CH-FL (to supplement the previous 3)

Click the correct Bezirk of Berlin on a map

List the Bezirke of Berlin

Coats of arms of the Bundesländer of A

Coats of arms of the Bundesländer of D

Coats of arms of the cantons of CH

Practice the towns of FL (has 8 of the 11 towns, unusual format but might do the trick)

Surely you can remember the 2 countries that border FL - A and CH!

Quizzes on conjuguemos.com

I've created sets on conjuguemos.com to help you learn certain lists and clusters of information. For each set, click "View List" to see/print a full list. As you start learning, the most useful features will be Flash Cards and Multiple Choice, but to test if you really know your stuff, take the Graded Practice, which does, however, require correct spelling.

Capitals

Probably the single most important set of information to memorize is the capitals of D-A-CH-FL and of the Bundesländer of A and D.

Capitals of Swiss Cantons

To be honest, there's only 1 question in the entire question bank that focuses on the capitals of the Swiss cantons. You'll never be asked "What's the capital of ___?" for any individual canton. So it's probably not a good use of your precious time to memorize these, but if you really want to cover that base, here's a set for you.

Superlatives of D-A-CH-FL

biggest/smallest Bundesländer/Kantone by area and population, most populous cities, tallest mountains, largest lakes/islands, longest borders, northernmost/southernmost/etc. points, geographic centers, and more

Vital Info about D-A-CH-FL

official names, number of Bundesländer/cantons, internet and phone codes, national populations, main airlines and train companies, major airports, major newspapers/magazines/broadcasters, national anthems, national flags, national coats of arms

Basics of D-A-CH-FL Political Systems

titles of leaders, current leaders, names of parliaments/courts, voting ages, frequency of elections, and more

German Chancellors

everything you need to know about the pre- and post-WWII chancellors

License Plates

In D, standard license plates begin with a 1-, 2- or 3-letter code standing for the city (or Kreis) the car is registered in. It's sort of a "status symbol" for a city to have a 1-letter code, and most Germans will know which cities are signified, for example, by A (Augsburg), K (Köln), M (München), etc. In A, it's the capitals of the Bundesländer that get the 1-letter codes. In CH, every license plate starts with a 2-letter code signifying the canton. What about FL? There are lots of questions about these things in the question bank, so it's a good idea to study them. (For CH, it's also another way to practice the cantons.)

Astrological/Zodiac Signs

You'll be given the English sign and you provide the German name for it.

Proverbs eligible for use at the Novice and Varsity levels

Proverbs eligible for use only at the Varsity level

I'm aware how hard it is to learn all these proverbs, and it's unlikely you'll encounter more than 1 of them every 2 games or so, so you have to decide whether learning them is worth the time. In almost all cases, the format of the questions in the Pass auf! rounds will be that you're given the English version and you have to produce the German version. You may wish to start out using the Multiple Choice feature, but sooner or later you have to progress to producing them yourself in German (Flash Cards or Graded Practice). However, Graded Practice will be especially hard because you have to match the exact wording and spelling. Viel Glück!

Email newsletters for help with Current Events

The best way to stay on top of current events is to subscribe to some of these free newsletters. That's what I'm doing myself to get ideas for the questions. I recommend:

Deutsche Welle in German:

Kompakt: Themen des Tages (daily)

German News Service (weekly)

Deutsche Welle in English:

Daily Bulletin (daily)

German News Service (weekly)

Euronews in English:

Europe Today (weekdays)

The Briefing (weekly)

swissinfo.ch in English:

Switzerland in Brief (weekdays)

Weekly Top Stories (weekly)

Le News in English:

Le News (weekly, about CH)

Special Topic for 2027: TBA

Each spring (since 2016), the State steering committee selects a "special topic" for the next year's Pass auf! games. About half the questions in the category Current Events & Special Topic are about this topic, so it is well worth your while to study up on it.

Past topics:

2026: Expressionism in the arts of the German-speaking world

2025: Die Wende (inspired by the 35th anniversary of German reunification)

2024: UNESCO World Heritage sites in D-A-CH

2023: scientists in D-A-CH-FL

2022: Bach/Beethoven/Brahms

2021: no Pass auf! contest due to COVID-19

2020: German-Texans

2019: German-Americans

2018: German-speaking world 1914-1945 (inspired by the 100th anniversary of the end of WWI)

2017: Protestant Reformation (inspired by the 500th anniversary of Martin Luther's posting of his 95 Theses on October 31, 1517)