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Kira Geiss: In her application, the 20-year-old emphasized volunteer work for church organizations
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Philipp von Ditfurth / dpa
Commitment instead of bikini pictures: In the election for "Miss Germany" for several years now, the focus has not only been on the appearance of the candidates, but also on social responsibility.
On Saturday evening, a 20-year-old theology student was able to convince the jury.
Kira Geiss from Stuttgart has been named the new "Miss Germany" for her commitment to youth work.
In her application, Geiss emphasized her voluntary commitment to church organizations and competed as the "voice of Generation Z", i.e. young people and young adults up to the age of 25. In the final, the student prevailed over nine other applicants.
Her goal is not "to design something for young people, but to create something with them," Geiss explained in advance of her participation.
During the beauty contest on Saturday, she said: "Democracy should have the right to support young people." On stage, Geiss described how, as a young person, she fell into a circle of friends in which alcohol and drugs were the order of the day.
A youth group helped her out and she found a mentor.
That's why she wants to set up a Germany-wide youth platform, said Geiss, who is also active in the church.
She also goes to companies to report on what the so-called Gen Z needs.
personality instead of looks
The Miss Germany competition was fundamentally reformed in 2019.
The candidates should be more diverse and, according to the organizers, are no longer judged only on the basis of their appearance, but also on the basis of their character.
Since then, the focus has been on the personality and the "missions" of the participants.
Instead of a crown, as in the past, the winner this time also received the »Female Leader Award«, which was presented for the first time.
The title comes with a prize money of 25,000 euros.
Among the ten finalists were trans woman Saskia von Bargen from Friedrichsfehn in Ammerland, Lower Saxony, chimney sweep Vanessa Didam from Cologne, who campaigned for more women in the trades, and gamer Sandra Friedrichs from Hamburg, who spoke about the advantages, disadvantages and especially the mental health aspect of video games want to clarify.
The spectrum of the »missions« was very broad overall, ranging from non-violent midwifery and financial independence for women to the fight against racism and discrimination.
asc/dpa/AFP