Launched in December 1997 by Weimar 1999 - Cultural Capital of Europe GmbH and the culture journal Lettre International, in cooperation with the Goethe Institute, the contest attracted 2,481 authors from 123 countries. Essays were submitted anonymously in the 6 UN languages (Arabic, English, French, Spanish, Chinese, Russian) and German. A seperate jury for each language group selected finalists whose essays were judged by a seven-member international jury. The identity of the writers was not revealed to the judges until after the results had been announced.