Research
Heidelberg houses the Federal Republic of Germany’s oldest university. Heidelberg German Studies is just as committed to this tradition as it is to the spirit of German Classicism and Romanticism that have characterised the city. Heidelberg German Studies comprises three teaching and research areas.
German studies: modern literature
German studies: modern literature deals with German literature from the early modern period (from the 16th century onwards) to the present day in the 21st century. We deal with literature in different media from the perspectives of literary and cultural history, literary theory, text analysis, and comparison. Special fields of the department’s research and teaching include the periods of the early modern period, literature around 1800, classical modernism and the period of National Socialism up to the present day.
German studies: linguistics
The area of German studies: linguistics studies the German language in the past and present. Beyond literary or standard language, it considers all other forms of language and communication as well, e.g., as used during the National Socialist era, in communication in (European) cultural contact, specialised communication such as in law and politics, or in medical and psychotherapeutic contexts.
Older German philology / medieval studies
The area of German medieval studies deals with the German language and literature from its beginnings in the 8th century to the early modern period in the 16th century. It focuses on linguistic history as well as on the literary, social, and cultural prerequisites faced by literature in the German language in the Middle Ages, including its interrelationships with ancient and Latin, Christian, Germanic, and Romance cultural traditions.
