Department of German
Founded in 1869, our department is known for innovative cross-disciplinary research and a dynamic intellectual atmosphere. We have been consistently ranked among the top German departments in the United States.
Our research and teaching engage the full range of German language and literature, philosophy, and visual media from the Middle Ages to the digital era. All our classes promote thinking across national borders.
Our department benefits from being part of a vibrant world-class university that holds expansive libraries, archives, and museums, enabling pioneering work in the humanities, arts and sciences.
Why German? Beyond language skills, our majors receive a strong liberal arts education that opens doors to law school, graduate study, and international careers in science, business, and IT, at home and in German-speaking countries. Graduates from our prestigious PhD program teach at universities and colleges across the country and abroad.
Featured Courses
Madness and Dreams in Literary Formations, MWF 12-1pm. 246 Dwinelle
German 148 (in German) KUDSZUS An in-depth examination of pivotal 18th to 20th century prose texts in Austrian, German, and Swiss literature with regard to intersections of madness & dreams . . .
A History of German Literature in 15 Poems, Tu/Th 12:30-2pm, 189 Dwinelle
Departmental News
Cornell Summer Course – Taught by Niklaus Largier
Professor Niklaus Largier will teach a 6 week course at the School…
New book and article by Prof. Jeroen Dewulf
Jeroen Dewulf (2018), Grijs slavernijverleden? Over zwarte milities en redimoesoegedrag. Amsterdam: Amsterdam University…
New book by Prof. Chenxi Tang
Imagining World Order: Literature and International Law in Early Modern Europe, 1500-1800…
New book by Prof. Niklaus Largier
Spekulative Sinnlichkeit: Spekulation und Kontemplation im Mittelalter (Mediävistische Perspektiven) Taschenbuch – 18. Oktober 2018
New book and article by Prof. Winfried Kudszus
Métaphores de l’Austérité et Austérité des Métaphores/Metaphors of Austerity & The Austerity…
Upcoming Events
The Future of European Research via the lenses of the Horizon EU research and innovation programme 2021-2027
Jekaterina Novikova, EU fellow at the Institute of European Studies at UC…
Helke Sander's dffb Cinema, 1968 and West Germany's Feminist Movement
Helke Sander was a key figure of the early dffb (Deutsche Film-…
“ ‘Global Mission’: Nazi Foreign Cultural Policy and the Goethe Society in Weimar”
Bio: W. Daniel Wilson was professor of German at Berkeley from 1983…

Adorno
Goethe
Und grün des Lebens goldner Baum
Goethe
Goethe
Kafka
Kafka
Kafka
Goethe
Juristerei und Medizin
Und leider auch Theologie
Durchaus studiert mit heißem Bemühn.
Da steh ich nun, ich armer Tor!
Und bin so klug als wie zuvor.
Goethe
Bachmann
Kafka
Hegel
NIetzsche
Brecht
Adorno
Kafka
Herrndorf
Freud
Kafka
Van Hoddis
In allen Lüften hallt es wie Geschrei.
Dachdecker stürzen ab und gehn entzwei
Und an den Küsten —liest man — steigt die Flut.
Musil
Hegel
―
Kafka
Goethe
Heine
Dann bin ich um den Schlaf gebracht,
Ich kann nicht die Augen schließen,
Und meine heissen Tränen fließen.