Heidelberg und Oles

On Saturday night, I headed down to Heidelberg to visit with a group of Oles on their J-term in Germany. St. Olaf professor Herr Fink treated alumni living in central Germany to join his trip for a fantastic Italian dinner (I was confused by the choice too). There were 6 Ole alums there, and about 20 students. As the only person at the gathering with minimal German skills, I was so impressed by the dedication Herr Fink’s German students displayed. I mean, there’s no real reason to love this language, with it’s fussy grammar, guttural Krieg-sounds, and impossibly long spellings, but sure enough, these 19 year olds tough it out for one month in the Fatherland while their classmates practice their French in Martinique and their Spanish in Ecuador. It doesn’t seem fair. And unlike Spanish, French, or Chinese, German is becoming, if not dead, then antiquated. Herr Fink summed it up perfectly to Erik and I; “Why learn German when so many new professors are willing to teach language as culture, and instead of German you get classes like ‘German Cinema, in English’?”

Even with the pedagogical shop talk we had a great night. I had been to Heidelberg once before and always loved its almost kitschy German-ess. Heidelberg boasts a large Medieval Castle, a former Nazi amphitheater and one of Germany’s most prestigious universities. There is also a huge American military presence in Heidelberg as it was Allied force headquarters after the war, and later American headquarters for European operations. There is a great shopping district and plenty of beer stubs lining the cobblestone streets, and our group of alums managed to stumble into a few of these. Here’s a picture courtesy of Kathryn S., Konigin of German studies (pictured far right).