German Department Immersion Learning Program
The Heidelberg immersion program gives intermediate German students, enrolled mostly in GER-202, the opportunity to spend two weeks in the area around Heidelberg putting their language learning to use and delving into important topics in German culture and history. In addition to having intensive language instruction and meeting with conversation partners, our students were able to:
- explore five German cities of varying size: Heidelberg, Mannheim, Speyer, Worms, Frankfurt am Main,
- visit three Bundeslaender, or German states: Baden-Wuerttemberg, Rheinland-Pfalz, und Hessen,
- see three major rivers: the Rhein (Worms and Speyer), the Neckar (Heidelberg), and the Main (Frankfurt),
- visit four major churches: Worms Cathedral, Speyer Cathedral, the Heiliggeistkirche or Church of the Holy Spirit in Heidelberg, and the Frankfurt Cathedral
- see two castles in Heidelberg and Mannheim,
- learn more about the history of the Weimar Republic,
- think about the history of books, from early manuscripts to the development of the printing press to the book burnings under the Nazis,
- learn more about Luther and the history of the Reformation,
- encounter sites that document the atrocities of National Socialism and commemorate its victims (Sinti und Roma Documentation Center, sites of former synagogues in Worms and Heidelberg, the "Thingstaette" on the Heiligenberg, and the sites of book burnings),
- see the house where Goethe was born,
- attend a professional soccer match,
- eat a decade's worth of Doener Kebab,
- and use their German in a variety of real-life situations.
Hiking day! The group takes a break to catch their breath on the slope of the Philosophenweg.
Professor Brian Tucker on the Philosophenweg or Philosopher's Path, with a view of the Neckar, the old city, and the castle in the background.
Jacob Ervin, Hayden Roache, and Devin Burris examine a Roman column in Heidelberg.
Students view Roman tombs excavated in Heidelberg.
Braiden Foster on his 20th birthday, obviously thrilled about the sweet treat we brought him from the bakery.
Studnets enjoy themselves at a German soccer match where FC Hansa defeated SV Sandhausen, 2-1.
Another scene from the match.
Students shortly after arriving in Frankfurt am Main on our first morning. They're jetlagged but excited, running on curiosity and adrenaline.
The German landscape with The Main, the longest tributary of the Rhine, visible as our flight approaches the Frankfurt Airport.
Train arrives.
Will Beikes is impressed by how many bikes there are outside the Heidelberg train station. Students are experiencing how Germans depend less on cars for transportation.
The students gather for language lessons on the first day of the trip.
Our immersion group after a tour of Heidelberg Castle.
Kayden Beatty takes a picture of the castle.
Ethan Brown looks out over the city from the palace garden.
Braiden Foster takes a selfie with Heidelberg Castle in the background.
The water tower in Mannheim.
The water tower in Mannheim with students pictured.
Blaine Teeters studies a painting at the Kunsthalle Mannheim.
Studnets gather for a lesson at the Friedrich-Ebert-Haus. Ebert was the first President of the Weimar Republic.
On the Philosophenweg with the castle in the background.
Braiden Foster on the Philosophenweg or Philosopher's Path, with a view of the Neckar, the old city, and the castle in the background.
Connor Garrity, Dobie Litchfield, and Mitchell Bock examine a model of the Worms Cathedral.
Worms Cathedral
Wabash students at the Luther monument in Worms. The Diet of Worms took place in 1521, where Luther famously refused to recant his writings.
Students exploring the park behind the Speyer Cathedral.
Speyer Cathedral
Students hiked all the way to the Thingstaette, an amphitheater that the Nazis constructed in 1934-35 as a site for rallies and other events.
Moody picture of our group waiting for a train.
In the heart of Heidelberg, with the castle ruins behind us.
Students and professors in the Black Germany seminar talk with Florence Brokowski-Shekete, an educator and best-selling author, about her experiences as a Black German.
Today we visited the Old Synagogue Square. The synagogue in Heidelberg was destroyed on November 10, 1938. The memorial makes the outlines of the former synagogue visible.
We also went to the documentation center of German Sinti and Roma. It is a unique exhibition about the persecution of Sinti and Roma during the Nazi era and the Holocaust.
Wabash students in the Max Kade Foyer of the New University, Heidelberg. We're grateful to the Max Kade Foundation for their generous support of our immersion program.
Students listen to a lecture in the old auditorium of the University of Heidelberg.