Welcome

Please note this handbook is subject to regular updates. If there is a major update then details will also be emailed to students.

Welcome to King’s College London and to the Department of German! We are one of the leading departments of German in the United Kingdom, as well as one of the oldest, and we combine a tradition of excellence with dynamic teaching and research activities. We’re sure that your time with us will be both stimulating and fun.

Whether you are a first-year or returning student, this online handbook will provide you with essential information about your degree and on how life in the German Department works. It should be your first port of call for any questions you have about your degree – but if anything is unclear, or if you wish to discuss anything you are uncertain about, please do not hesitate to contact your personal tutor, the departmental administrator, or any other member of staff. We all have regular office hours that are posted on the doors of our offices, and we are all contactable by email. We are here to help make your time at King’s as easy and as positive an experience as possible.

Your decision to study German here at King’s no doubt reflects your enthusiasm for the German language, and also for the literature, film, history, politics and culture of German-speaking countries. As a Department, we share this enthusiasm, having all spent much of our lives learning and studying German. During your time here, we will help you perfect your knowledge of German. In particular, we aim:

to provide you with the highest level of proficiency in the practical skills of reading, writing, speaking, and listening to German, and to develop your knowledge and analytic understanding of the structure, workings, and usage of the language;
to develop your knowledge and understanding of the breadth and depth of the artistic and intellectual culture of German-speaking countries, and of German history, politics and society.

Although classes within the Department will form the core of your degree, your studies in German will be greatly enhanced if you make the most of all the opportunities for contact with German culture that are offered by our location in central London. Galleries showing German art are close at hand: the Courtauld Gallery is next door, the National Gallery is at the other end of the Strand, and just across the river is Tate Modern. You can see German films almost every week at the British Film Institute at the Southbank, just across the river from the Department, as well as at cinemas across the capital. London is also home to the Goethe-Institut, the German Academic Exchange Service, the Institute of Germanic and Romance Studies and the German Historical Institute – all of which put on events which will be of interest to you.

Studying German at King’s College London is a unique experience, and we look forwarding to welcoming you to the Department.

The Department of German