Two male students and one female student from Dresden and Erfurt won first prizes in the international Adam Ries Competition. In the final round over the weekend, they had to solve tricky math problems that revolved around topics such as barter systems from centuries ago as well as the World Cup. The organizers noted that the problems were designed to require mathematical understanding beyond the scope of standard school curriculum.
The competition honors the mathematician Adam Ries (c. 1492–1559). Through his books written in German, he made mathematics accessible to a wider audience and is considered the father of modern arithmetic. In Annaberg-Buchholz in the Ore Mountains—where he lived for many years—a museum commemorates him.
