Department of German

    Established in 1971, the German Department of the School of Foreign Languages and Literature of Wuhan University is the first university-level German-teaching unit in central and southern China. The Department began to enroll undergraduate students in 1972, Masters students in 1982. Since 2014, it is ratified to award doctoral degrees in German Language and Literature. At the same time, the Department  undertakes the public German teaching of all schools and departments in the University. In addition, it is one of the Chinese partners of the Confucius Institute in Metropolis Ruhr, Germany.

    The German Department has a group of experts and scholars with extensive knowledge, profound language and literature skills, solid oral and written language skills, outstanding teaching and advanced teaching methods. All teachers have been trained, studied or obtained master’s and doctoral degrees in famous universities and Goethe college in Germany and Austria. Many professors are members of the Internationale Vereinigung für Germanistik, the National German Language, Literature, History Research Association, and the German Teaching Research Association. In terms of teaching and academic research, many courses the department offers, such as Comprehensive German, Economic German, Comparative Study of German and Chinese Language and Culture, Comparative study of German and Chinese Philosophy and History, Goethe Studies, German Drama and Literature, and Modern German Teaching Methods, have great influence not only in the University but also the whole country. The Department has published several high-level monographs, compilations and translations. Many professors from the Department have been invited to the University of Trier to serve as visiting professors. They have taught a number of courses in the comparative study of German and Chinese languages and cultures for the master and doctoral students in languages. Their work and efforts are highly praised by Trier university.

    In terms of academic exchange, the German Department has hired foreign teachers from Germany and Austria since 1980. It has a German Library funded by the Deutscher Akademischer Austauschdienst (DAAD) with a rich collection of books, which provides a good learning environment for undergraduates and postgraduates, and has greatly enriched the German books in the university library and the school reference room. Almost every year, experts and professors from universities in Germany and Austria, and from prestigious domestic institutions of higher learning come here to give lectures and hold high-level lectures.

    The Department is highly internationalized in its teaching and scientific research, maintaining close and lasting relations with University of Trier, University of Stuttgart, University of Göttingen, University of Duisburg-Essen in Germany, University of Graz in Austria, and University of Bern in Switzerland. Over the past 40 years, the Department has trained many outstanding undergraduates and postgraduates, who are now holding important positions in government departments, research departments, foreign affairs departments and institutions of higher learning. Among them are Wu Ken, Chinese Ambassador to Germany; Li Haiyan, Consul General of the Consulate in Frankfurt, Germany, Liu Huaxin, Director of the Berlin Branch of People’s Daily, and chief correspondents of Xinhua News Agency and China Radio International in Germany and Austria, directors and deputy directors of Hubei Foreign Affairs Office, the Foreign Affairs Committee of the Wuhan Municipal People’s Congress, Wuhan Foreign Affairs Office, doctoral supervisors and professors of the German Department of Shanghai International Studies University, the only first-grade German translator of China Radio International; general managers of numerous travel agencies and major corporations; grand justices of the Chinese legal profession, etc. Some graduates became writers who wrote in German and published works in Germany, which attracted the attention of German readers. Our graduates have high professional capacity and superior overall quality. They work hard, achieve remarkable results, and have the courage to innovate. They are well received and praised by employers.

Department Head: Xu qiongxing

Deputy Department Head: Zhang Shenwei