We are already excited! Mandy Poetzsch, our Language Director for German, will discuss why language learning is still relevant in times of AI.

It’s Welcome Week in the School of Modern Languages and we are truly delighted to welcome our incoming first year students studying German with us! And yes, the German Department is on Bluesky! Join and follow us here for all our news and community events!!

Welcome (back) to all our brand new students and returning students. We look very much forward to meeting our new first first year students this Friday during our welcome talk. We have reserved the seats below for you 😃

The British-German Association does outstanding work fostering ever closer ties between the UK and Germany. I'm delighted to support them and am grateful for all their hard work! 🇩🇪🤝🇬🇧

I'm Susanne Baumann - Germany's new Ambassador to the UK and I'm delighted to be back in London, where I started my diplomatic career. I and my colleagues in London and Berlin are now looking forward to implementing the Kensington Treaty, the historic 🇬🇧🇩🇪 friendship treaty.

L' #AIG è ora anche su Bluesky! Folgen Sie uns für Neuigkeiten zu Veranstaltungen, Publikationen und Initiativen im Bereich der #Germanistik in Italien – und darüber hinaus! We're here to connect scholars, share resources, and foster dialogue across disciplines and borders! #germanstudies 🖤 ❤️ 💛

Pretty happy to announce the forthcoming Special Issue of German Politics and Society about the meanings of "Heimat" in East Germany since the 1990s, which I co-edited with @jschuetz.bsky.social. See what you can expect 👇

It was wonderful to welcome so many prospective students to the German stand at today’s Open Day in the School of Modern Languages at the University of Bristol! It’s always so inspiring to hear all about your passion for studying German at university! #German #ModernLanguages #ShoutOutForGerman

We are delighted to announce the launch of this year’s 'A German Classic', our annual essay competition for sixth-form students run by the Oxford German Network. This year, we invite students to engage with Rainer Maria Rilke's New Poems (Neue Gedichte). www.ogn.ox.ac.uk/files/2025_r...

We’re absolutely delighted that the German Department at the University of Bristol has been ranked 4th in the United Kingdom in the 2026 Complete University Guide, with a score of 94%! #German #ModernLanguages

We are thrilled that Susan Harrow has been appointed Deputy Chair of the Modern Languages & Linguistics Sub-Panel in REF 2029. Susan writes: 'At this challenging time for the UK humanities, it is more important than ever to champion research across the full spectrum of our dynamic disciplines.'

We are pleased to announce that Susan Harrow, Professor of French at the University of Bristol, is the new General Editor of Legenda. Legenda is the MHRA’s book imprint for new research in the Humanities with titles ranging from medieval texts to contemporary cinema. www.mhra.org.uk/news/2025/05...

We are truly delighted that the 20-year anniversary edition of the historical sociolinguistics network conference is taking place at the University of Bristol from 21 to 23 May 2025. It’s being run by our own Dr Anna Havinga (German) and Dr James Hawkey (Hipla) #HiSoN hison2025.blogs.bristol.ac.uk

Did you know that UoB students and staff can listen to audiobooks and read eBooks for free with the Libby App? Just select 'sign in via your library card' and login with your university email and password. www.bristol.ac.uk/library/bris...

'Shockingly timely, this enticing, original and wonderfully researched book contributes to some of the most pressing debates of our time' Congratulations to Dr @amycking.bsky.social who won the American Association for Italian Studies First Book Prize for The Politics of Sacrifice 🔗 bit.ly/3GLSuHj

📣 The draft programme for our Environmental Humanities Summer School has landed and we're so excited to share it with you: bit.ly/4miqI5k ✨ There's still time to apply but you'll need to get your skates on as the deadline is the 25th of May. More details here: bit.ly/4j3sAfi ✨

Congratulations to our colleague Prof. Bradley Stephens who delivered a superb Inaugural Lecture, 'Victor Hugo and the Making of Masculinity'. Bradley was introduced by @susanharrow.bsky.social, Ashley Watkins Chair of French, Head of French. What a wonderful evening celebrating Bradley🥂

We asked you to #ShoutOutForGerman, and you delivered! Thank you to everyone who took part - especially to all the German teachers and pupils across the UK! It was wonderful seeing such an outpouring of joy and enthusiasm for the German language. DANKE! 🖤❤️💛

If anyone was in any doubt that learning German is fun, they should check out #ShoutOutForGerman! Thank you to everyone who took part in the campaign last week for highlighting the joys, benefits & importance of language learning. We'll continue making the case for German in the UK.

It was lovely to meet so many offer holders for #German at yesterday‘s #OpenDay in the School of Modern Languages at Bristol! Having the chance to talk with you all about your excitement for learning German was the perfect end to all the #ShoutOutForGerman activities across the country last week!

Many thanks to the German Embassy London @uk.diplo.de, the German Academic Exchange Service @daadworldwide.bsky.social, & the Goethe Institut UK @goethe-institut-uk.bsky.social for all their work putting the #ShoutOutForGerman campaign together! Bristol German are very proud to have played a part!

As #GermanWeek and the #ShoutOutForGerman campaign draw to a close for this year, let’s keep in mind Timothy Garton Ash‘s words! German: „a beautiful, rich & useful language“. The truth of this has been on display all week. Check out the hashtag #ShoutOutForGerman for all the inspiring stories!

Town twinning is such an important motor of international collaboration and has a long and fascinating history, as well as a still very active present! We are very lucky in Bristol to have such an active link with #Hannover, one from which our students also benefit hugely! #ShoutOutForGerman

This week has seen the national #ShoutOutForGerman event celebrated across the UK and Swavesey VC Germanists have enjoyed taking part. Yr 8 enjoyed a 'Berlin and Graffiti' workshop and took part in a live event with Goethe Institut. They learned a new song and took part in a live sing along!

There are staff members in the German Department here at Bristol that were, like @corinnepainter.bsky.social, equally inspired by the #ChaletSchool series! A small research project in the offing, perhaps?! #ShoutOutForGerman

Great to see this new research in German Linguistics by @zarafahim15.bsky.social! Looking forward to hearing more! #ShoutOutForGerman

Have you been inspired by #GermanWeek and #ShoutOutForGerman? Then stay connected by taking part each week in the #GermanLinksQuiz of the British-German Association @britgerassoc.bsky.social!

Great day at @larberthigh.bsky.social with the Goethe-Institut Glasgow to speak about the importance of learning German & the opportunities it brings for future studies & careers!Fantastic to see how many pupils have chosen German as a foreign language & the joy it brings to them! #ShoutOutForGerman

As John le Carré once said, “The decision to learn a foreign language is an act of friendship.” www.hepi.ac.uk/2025/03/17/s... #ShoutOutForGerman

Dan and Tom at BMW Group Plant Swindon are proving how learning German can open doors – both in their careers and personal lives! 🚀 #ShoutOutForGerman

As #ShoutOutForGerman week draws to a close, I thought I'd share a mini 🧵 on what studying German has done for me, particularly in recent years.

Friday 21st: My final #ShoutOutForGerman goes to @warwick-smlc.bsky.social especially the German section, who have supported me from UG-PhD. Without the expertise, community & encouragement I found at Warwick, I would never have developed such a passion for German language & culture!

Let’s have another #ShoutOutForGerman! We put our heads together in the library team, and here are our memorable personal experiences with German and German-speaking countries. 👇🧵

It’s Friday night, so what could be better than an Austrian music mixtape to see in the weekend! Listen along and celebrate the end of #GermanWeek and this year’s #ShoutOutForGerman campaign! Many thanks to the @austriainuk.bsky.social team! #Feierabend

It was such an honour to welcome the German Ambassador & colleagues from the German Embassy to the Bristol German Department yesterday - just one stop on the Ambassador’s tour to #ShoutOutForGerman across the region! We are so proud of our students for showcasing everything that German can unlock!

As @mharrabin.bsky.social says, at the heart of researching & teaching #GermanStudies at universities is the strength of our networks, which stretch around the world, bringing colleagues of all career stages, students & the public together to shape German Studies for the better! #ShoutOutForGerman

Do follow #ShoutOutForGerman this week. It’s so heartening to hear all these wonderful stories about #German and #MFL teachers and their incredible impact!

This is such a lovely thread on all the diverse and life changing outcomes that learning German, studying German, working with German, and living in Germany, can lead to. It’s been wonderful to see so many people taking part in #ShoutOutForGerman this week!

If only we could have a German word of the day everyday from Susie Dent (a wonderful champion of language, both English and German, and beyond!) #ShoutOutForGerman

Wednesday 19th: Today, I’m grateful for the wonderful examples of celebrity Germanists who set a great example to all about the importance of learning German! I’m particularly impressed by @alastaircampbell2.bsky.social who regularly gives a #ShoutOutForGerman on @therestpolitics.bsky.social

So schön und liebenswert, was sich da unter #ShoutOutForGerman versammelt. Ganz viel internationale Wertschätzung für die deutsche #Sprache.

In Weston-super-Mare, Bristol & Swindon I saw first-hand how invaluable learning German is for pupils, students & apprentices alike. Thanks Winterstoke Hundred Academy, @germanatbristol.bsky.social, Bristol Hannover Council & BMW Swindon for an inspiring day! #ShoutOutForGerman

Our second year students here at Bristol were busy today on their unit „Inventing Austria“, planning some podcasts on all things Austrian! Join the Austrian Embassy London too in giving a #ShoutOutForGerman!

It's Day 2 of this week's #ShoutOutForGerman initiative! Championing German goes way back for us. Here's a 1929 course by the Taylor's German Professor - for the gramophone: ox.cloud.panopto.eu/Panopto/Page... What are your highlights of learning the wonderful (and useful!) language of Deutsch?

Julia Donaldson on the magic of learning German: „I'm so glad I learnt German at school. I'm fascinated by words and love finding out how people say things in different countries; it has some of the pleasure of learning a secret code.“ #ShoutOutForGerman

Tuesday 18th: Today I reminisce about my wonderful Auslandsjahr in Munich, where I worked as a @britishcouncil.bsky.social language assistant, travelled all over Bavaria, met some amazing friends who I’m still in touch with, and improved my German all at the same time! #ShoutOutForGerman

Aber gerne! #ShoutOutForGerman 1. Amtsschimmel 2. Too many to choose from but if pushed: hitch-hiking via the Transitstrecke to visit old West Berlin for the first time. 3. School: Mr Joe Stephenson; University: Dr Erich Speidel

More tremendous resources from the British-German Association - kickstart your time in Germany here! #ShoutOutForGerman

This week, fittingly, I am on my way to London to talk to the amazing German teachers of the Association of German Saturday Schools about the links between language and identity in heritage language education at the Goethe Institut. I have been in the UK for 30 years, and still #ShoutOutForGerman