English Language Programme

What food is typically German? Everybody could name some traditional dishes like Sauerkraut, sausages, pretzels or Schweinebraten. But why are these dishes the traditional dishes of Germany? How and when were they created? And does really every German eat them? In this course, we will follow the history of German food. Our journey will start with the first inhabitants of the country we call Germany today and will follow the food through the markets of the Middle Ages to our supermarkets today. The German cuisine is rich in regional variations, which are not only due to geographical and climatic reasons but also influenced by the special German history. Besides the history of some German dishes and typical ingredients, you will also learn a good bit about German’s history and its (food-)culture. This course will also take a look at the ways food is prepared and how and when food is eaten in Germany.

Lecturer: Dr. Christina Schäfer

The stylistic period between Renaissance and Neoclassicism is called Baroque and lasted from 1575 to 1770. In art history this era is divided in Early Baroque (ca. 1600-1650), High Baroque (ca. 1650-1720) and Late Baroque or Rococo (ca. 1720-1770). Baroque art can be defined as the typical kind of artistic development in the period of Absolutism and Catholic (Counter-)Reform which started its existence in Italy and, then, spread first over the catholic countries of Europe before finally establishing itself in a modified way in protestant regions, too. Thus, still today we find many examples of baroque art in Würzburg, its vicinity and all of southern Germany – a situation, which provides the best opportunities to become acquainted with this style during one’s studies at Würzburg University. The most important tasks architects, painters and sculptors had to fulfil in that epoch were to explain the christian belief to the faithful and allow them, with their artistic means, a first “glimpse into heaven” or, on the other side, to express and emphasise the power and importancce of the absolute princes. In consequence the artists had to build and decorate a plethora of beautiful churches and sumptuous palaces, they also had to project huge symmetrical gardens and to design new geometrical plannings for cities recently founded to glorify the princes. As the greatest achievement of this period might be mentionned its trial to unify the three main branches of fine art – architecture, painting and scultpure – in order to create a unity of the genres. This very impressive fact – called “Gesamtkunstwerk” – evoques a complexity in art that has never been achieved before or after that era. In many cases a kind of melting procedure happens between the artistic branches bringing illusion, imagination and reality to a close contextual situation which is often breathtaking. The projected lecture will exemplify baroque art in all its periodical subdivisions as well as in architecture, painting and sculpture using the vast repertory provided in southern Germany. Thus architects like Balthasar Neumann (1687-1753), Johann Dientzenhofer (1665-1726) and Dominikus Zimmermann (1685-1766), painters like Giovanni Battista Tiepolo (1696-1770), Cosmas Damian Asam (1686-1739) and Johannes Zick (1702-1762) or sculptors like Balthasar Permoser (1651-1732), Ignaz Günther (1725-1775) and Egid Quirin Asam (1692-1750) with all their masterpieces will be in the focus of our interest.

Lecturer: Dr. Peter A. Süß

"True Crime" is becoming increasingly popular. The genre owes its rise in particular to the media coverage, but in doing so, the latter has perhaps also struck a nerve with recipients. On the one hand, the seminar will thus focus on the legal historical development in Germany, but on the other hand, it will also discuss spectacular legal cases. In this way, participants will gain an insight into the German legal and media system. On this journey through such cultures of memory in Germany, the participants will encounter, for example, the "Vampire of Düsseldorf" and assess for themselves whether they would have convicted someone or not. To successfully complete the course, participants will present and write up a well-known case from their home country (optionally a different country).

Lecturer: Dr. Christina Schäfer/Lisa Stolz M.A.

What do coffee filters, hole punches, cars, and pretzels have in common? All of these things are German inventions. Germany is famous for its inventiveness, but where does this show up in everyday life? What famous inventions are around us? Who was involved and what does „invention“ actually mean?
In this course, we follow inventions big and small in different categories, discovering the stories and people behind them. For many inventions, there is more than one ingenious inventor behind them. Our focus is on Germany, but we will also look beyond national borders to follow the path of inventions. We also talk about the problems that exist, the stealing of ideas, and the protection against this by patents.

Lecturer: Dr. Christina Schäfer

Germany was not only the country of many poets but also the homeland of world famous composers and musicians. Until today music in all his aspects – theory and practice – plays an important role in German cultural life. Dealing with German Music History and its content can be a life-long scholarly work and experience. So the lecture will focus in the way of spotlights on 1000 years of German Music Tradition dealing with sacred and secular music and its composers and intellectual background. In a chronological way it will illustrate step by step the periods from “Minnesang” to twelve-tone composition (“dodecaphonism”). The course wants to give to the student an overview and a basic knowledge in German Music History and at the end maybe the ability to attend concerts more open minded.

Lecturer: Alexander Hofmann M.A.

Germany is dotted with historical monuments of all decades – and so is Würzburg. The big mystic fortresses built during the Middle Ages that survived the centuries still haven’t ceased to fascinate contemporary visitors. Their stones may impress, but can they talk? Can they tell us how their inhabitants lived, what they thought and cared about? Places and buildings may take our bodies and eyes on an imaginary time travel, but only scripts and books of those times can take our minds back into the past and bring them close to the minds of former authors and poets.
We are going to set out on that journey, will dive into medieval literature and discover the oldest written testimonies about knights and heroes, courtly love and wild adventures. On our way we are going to get to know the historical background, the social structures and some of the stages of development of the German language used back then – Old and Middle High German.
After the Renaissance and Reformation the next important step of the Early Modern Period is the Baroque era. The traumatic experience of the Thirty Years’ War is reflected in very profound and lively prose and in poetry full of symbols worth explanation and interpretation.
The Latin language plays an important role in didactic poetry. The modern period starts with the great authors of the Enlightenment, among them Immanuel Kant, the philosopher, or Gotthold Ephraim Lessing, the founder of humanitarianism.
The second half of the 18^th century is coined by the Sensibility, – its ultimate bestseller Goethe’s ‘Die Leiden des jungen Werthers’ – and by the movement of the highly emotional ‘Sturm and Drang’ as an opposition to the rationalism imposed by the Enlightenment. The protagonists – Johann Wolfgang von Goethe and Friedrich von Schiller both moved on to the Weimar Classicism, one of the most fertile and famous epochs in German literature.
In the late 18^th and early 19^th century, the pendulum swung back towards the idea of an idealized world of the Middle Ages and towards the rather irrational and supernatural facets of the human mind during the Age of Romanticism.
Biedermeier and Vormärz, Poetic Realism and Naturalism close the 19^th century. The 20^th opens with fresh ideas in Symbolism, Expressionism or Dada. During the National Socialist regime there were several movements in literature: the official propaganda, the literature of the ‘internal emigration’ and the works of authors who went into exile to write against the war and the Nazi regime, men like Bertold Brecht or Thomas Mann.
Post-war literature dominates the decades after the end of 2^nd World War. The situation in East Germany is an important factor in both history and literature. Postmodern and contemporary literature finally bring us back to the days of our lifetime.

Lecturer: Dr. Christina Schäfer

Currently consisting of twenty-seven member states with supranational and intergovernmental features, the European Union has not only created a political and economic community, but also a single market by a system of laws which apply in all member states, guaranteeing the freedom of movement of people, goods, services, and capital.
In this course, we will look at the development of the European Union from the European Economic Community (EEC), established in 1957 as a customs union, to the introduction of the Euro as a common currency adopted by fifteen member states in 1999, to the ratification of the Lisbon Treaty in 2009 and beyond. Topics presented include (but may not limited to) decision-making in the EU, the various EU institutions such as the Commission, the Council of the EU, the EU Parliament, the EU Central Bank etc.; immigration and asylum; foreign and security policy; Brexit and Euroscepticism, the European Green Deal. Additionally, we will study and discuss national particularities such as the German social security system, the German labor market etc.

Lecturer: Sabrina Hüttner M.A.

What do Germans think about Americans? What do Americans think about Germans? German-American relations have been in flux, especially in the past decades. Has it always been like this? This class looks at German-American relations in literature and culture.
We will read texts ranging from the 19th into the 21st century, covering different literary genres (novels, short stories, poetry, political theory). The readings allow for a discussion of a wide range of topics, including political and historical issues (such as migration, war experiences, racism) but also cultural phenomena such as stereotypes or practices of assimilation. 

Lecturer: Marie-Claire Franca Leitner