More than just the Oktoberfest and beer

The aim of the English Language Program offered by the Humanities Faculty I is to give international students a better insight into German culture and history. One of the lectures is entitled “Culture and Life in Germany – An Applied Geography: The South” We went to have a look.

First surprise: there are German students here, too. More about that later. Second surprise: it is not the usual 45 or 90-minute lecture, but a generous 135 minutes. However, although there is no break, there is no sign of restlessness, no one is yawning. Third surprise: a huge variety of interesting subjects are covered. The lecture moves from the meaning of the acronym BASF –Badische Anilin- und Sodafabrik – to the main ingredient of Weißwurst Bavarian sausage – veal – to the annual hours of sunshine in Freiburg – more than 1800, and there is more, more breadth and more depth.

What Bavaria is famous for

Something that is no surprise: when Peter Süß asks the international students what Bavaria is famous for, students answer in the following order: Oktoberfest – Beer – sausage – the Alps. To ensure that this is not all they know about Bavaria and Germany, the Humanities Faculty I has held classes in English since the winter semester 2009/10 in their “English Language Program”.

These classes are run by the historian, Dr Peter Süß, and he and his colleagues give students a grounding in German history, culture and geography. Or, for the first time in the summer semester 2011, the German legal system. All the classes are held in English.

Not every international student in Würzburg has to learn German

“It is not the case that every international student who comes to Würzburg comes here to learn German. Post-graduate students often come here because of a particular subject, for example the Space Master students. Here the students come from all over the world and their classes are held in English,” Dr Süß explains.

The Humanities faculty offers these classes in English to give students like these the opportunity to find out more about their host country. The classes have proved extremely successful: between 30 and 50 students attend each semester to find out about baroque and rococo art in Germany, or the German culture of remembrance, or cross-cultural comparisons of Germans in America and Americans in Germany. The classes are held from mid-October to mid-December and from the middle of May until the end of July in order to allow American exchange students to earn credits in their three term academic year system.

Focus on southern Germany

In his lectures, Peter Süß focusses on German life and culture in southern Germany. So, what are the capitals of Bavaria and Baden-Württemberg? And how many administrative regions are there in each of these federal states? What was the role-model for the German regions? Is that not something an exchange student from France might perhaps know? In fact, it was the French départements on which the German federal states were based. And why does the coat-of-arms of Baden-Württemberg display the Austrian colours? Maybe there is a student from Germany’s southern neighbour in the lecture hall who knows that Freiburg and district once belonged to Austria?

Green Party, Leberkäse, Richard Wagner

Peter Süß’s informative lecture sweeps through many aspects of German culture and institutions. He covers Porsche and the new Green Party prime minister of Baden-Württemberg, moves on to the largest ceiling fresco north of the Alps and the town hall cellar in Rothenburg, Richard Wagner and Ludwig II of Bavaria, and explains the south German culinary specialities Leberkäse and Maultaschen.

Peter Süß presents his immense knowledge of Germany and its people with a twinkle in his eye. Again and again, he encourages his students to make their own contributions, he knows almost all of them by name. The atmosphere is relaxed but very focused. And when a German student admits that he has no idea what the ingredients of a Weißwurst are, the class enjoys a little joke at his expense: “He eats without knowing. Very courageous!“

Lectures and events

The “English Language Program” consists of more than just lectures. “Every semester we have a few events which are more on the social side,” Dr Süß says. Anyone who wants to join in can take part in a guided tour of the Residence in English or visit the Würzburg Hofbräu brewery. There is an organised trip to Bamberg and, of course, a wine-tasting in State Winery.

“At the end there is a written examination and the students can earn ECTS points,” Süß explains. German students can benefit, too. If they pass the exam they are awarded points for “General Key Qualifications”, as evidence that they are able to follow lectures in English.