INSIGHTS
INSIGHTS (Interdisciplinary Studies in German History, Tradition and Society) – formerly WELP (Würzburg English Language Programme) – is a programme that offers courses about Germany in English and Chinese. The programme is designed for students from all countries and disciplines who wish to improve their intercultural skills and gain a better understanding of Germany. The duration of each course is ten weeks (winter term: mid-October to mid-December, summer term: mid-May to mid-July). Students receive 3 ECTS for each course.
Course programme (summer term 2025)
Courses taught in English
It is a commonplace around the globe: every nation possesses buildings of outstanding importance for its history. Churches, castles, palaces, houses, memorials that have played a more or less important role in the state’s development feature the materialised past of a people, and are – if not appreciated – at least recognised or known by all fellow countrymen. Sometimes such buildings even have an iconic value and are highly esteemed by every native as utterances of a nation’s sovereignty and will plus its ups and downs.
Therein, Germany likewise makes no difference from the rest of the world. Many famous buildings encompass the chequered history of the German state through the centuries. From Middle Ages through early modern times up to the recent period: always events, decisions and developments are closely linked to monuments that hence remain in our people’s memory, be it – just to mention a few – Charlemagne’s palatine chapel in Aachen (800), Speyer Cathedral built by Emperor Konrad IInd (1025), Nuremberg Castle mentioned in the “Golden Bull” of 1356, Wittenberg’s palace chapel at whose door Martin Luther is said to have published his 95 thesis in 1517, town halls of Münster and Osnabrück where the Thirty Years’ War finally came to an end in 1648, Regensburg City Hall which for over a century was the place of assembly for the German Imperial Diet (until 1806), Wartburg and Hambach Castles which both mark the steps towards democracy (1817/1832) as St. Paul’s Church in Frankfurt does as well (1848), Berlin Reichstag Building where the country turned into a republic in 1918, Feldherrnhalle in Munich where a first National Socialist attempt to seize power was stopped (1923), the Museum Koenig in Bonn where the fathers of the actual German Constitution met in 1948, or iconic Brandenburg Gate in our capital where Germany’s reunification of was celebrated in 1990.
This short survey cannot claim to be complete but might already underline how manifold the possibilities are to combine German history with its stone remnants in a lesson. In short, the projected class will help provide a concise synopsis of German history as well as an overview of the most important artifact testimonies of its past.
Lecuterer: Dr. Peter A. Süß
For many contemporaries German history is overwhelmingly coined by German people’s striving for national unity in the 19th century which subsequently led to the catastrophes of two World Wars and a dictatorship in the first half of the 20th century. However, the question arises whether it is truthful, honest and fair to reduce the entire history of a people possessing a past of at least more than a millennium to a period of just 150 years?
Therefore, the lecture attempts to provide a concise view onto the first thousand years of Germany’s historical development. This will emphasize that many of the present day structures and mentalities in German political and cultural life actually possess a backdrop of longevity, partly persistent already since the Middle Ages or the period of Early Modern History. So, beginning with the Roman days in Germany over the creation of Charlemagne’s European empire and the impact of feudalism as well as the development of German states the lecture will also cover topics like Martin Luther’s Reform and the successive religious conflicts. Moreover the class encompasses information about the organisational and structural progress in Germany, its interference in European questions as well as the final decay of the “Holy Roman Empire of German Nation” in the 18th century, not least because of the emerging Prussian-Austrian Dualism.
Research fields like the development of German statehood, the special relationship of state and church in Germany, the influence of religious disputes, the European system of balance of powers and interferences of foreign powers in Germany together with the structural frailty of the Old Empire will shape the main focus of the lecture. At best, in the end of the term students will have improved their fundamental knowledge of German history and possess a much better understanding of Germany’s tedious way towards its current political situation.
Lecturer: Dr. Peter A. Süß
In the last decades and in the course of worldwide cultural but also economic linking-up, events like Halloween or Valentine’s Day arrived in Germany and Europe. Formally, those originally American festivities were not known in Germany and the rest of Europe. However, this does not mean that these countries did not have their own customs and traditions. Actually, each of them looks back on a huge amount of different local, regional and even nationwide customs for any kind of event: practices for annually repeating feasts like Christmas and Easter or saints’ days, e.g. processions or parish fairs, as well as modes for special and individual festivities as weddings, baptisms and funerals. Furthermore, customs and traditions are still instrumentalised and interpreted for political and economic purposes today. With this in mind, it is also worthwhile to look at the way customs have changed in the recent past. The course will give an overview over different German regions and their churchly and worldly customs as well as a pass through the ecclesiastical year with its most important rites and traditions. It can help students from abroad, but also students from different German regions to understand the different practices they might see during their stay in Germany and maybe even participate in them to experience centuries-old traditions in different locations.
Lecturer: Luise Stark M.A.
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
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
"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).
Lecturers: Dr. Christina Schäfer / Lisa Stolz M.A.
