In the sphere of educational research, the concept of interest has a central position. Interest is regarded as a multi-dimensional construct and a person's special relation to an object (person-object-conception of interests - POI) (Renninger, Hidi & Krapp 1992, Krapp 2001). Furthermore, interest is considered as a significant motivational aspect of the learning process and should be promoted in educational environments. Motivation is closely related to individual achievement and should have a prominent status in education, supporting the development of students' self-determined personality. Recent studies on students' interest deal mainly with learners in secondary education and higher, while primary education is less considered. But as the transition from primary to secondary education represents a sensitive period in view of students' motivation, research in this field is of particular interest. For this reason, a first exploration with an indirect approach to this young age seems sensible. PIRLS 2001 (Progress in International Reading Literacy Study) assessed reading literacy of pupils (aged nine and ten/fourth grade) and the factors associated with its acquisition (Campbell, Kelly, Mullis, Martin & Sainsbury 2001). Additionally, on a national level, in Germany student's performance in mathematics, science and text writing (essays) was assessed as well (Bos, Lankes, Prenzel, Schwippert, Walther & Valtin 2003). For the study presented here 215 (out of 1807) students' essays were chosen for a content analysis focussing on student's interests. As a theoretical basis the six types of interest Holland suggested in the Hexagonal Model of Interest were chosen and used to build categories for the analysis (Holland 1997). The conception of interest in this theoretical model shows a close relation between interest and personality and offers specific topics, behaviours and attitudes for each type. Any combination of the interest types is possible, but certain combinations are more probable than others. In the content analysis of the students' essays the categories were adjusted according to the age of the assessed students, the analysed texts, and the performance requirements. The analysis showed a wide spectrum of interests in this age group and the six types of interest were found. The results of the content analysis were related to the achievement scores of the main PIRLS 2001 study. The outcomes of this study present implications for the development of teaching and instructing in school and are useful for further research in this field.