Around 3 to 5 million people speak Low German in Germany today - in Bremen, Hamburg, Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, Lower Saxony, Schleswig-Holstein as well as in the northern parts of Brandenburg, Hesse, North Rhine-Westphalia and Saxony-Anhalt. Although the number of active speakers has been declining since the 1950s, today this process is countered not only by a diverse and committed cultural and literary scene, but also by a broad research interest in the Low German language, its literature and increasingly also in questions of its acquisition and teaching in education, at least since the end of the 19th century. However, only a few universities in the North offer students the opportunity to acquire knowledge in all three components of Low German research in equal measure. The aim of the planned summer academy is therefore to offer a concentrated and compact insight into aspects of Low German language, literature and didactics and at the same time to introduce students to current fields of work and challenges of research and teaching Low German in the North German academic landscape.

The Summer Academy is based on four pillars:

• Exercises on language practice
• Teaching units on the language, literature and didactics of Low German from a historical and contemporary perspective
• Workshops on recent digital methods of language variation research
• Framework and accompanying programme

The exercises, teaching units and workshops will be organised by renowned representatives of the subject from the universities of Flensburg, Greifswald, Hamburg, Kiel, Rostock and Oldenburg. A public evening lecture by PD Dr Klaas-Hinrich Ehlers (Freie Universität Berlin) will round off the programme.

Organisation, conditions of participation and application

The Summer Academy Low German is organised by the Department of Low German and Sater Frisian of the Institute for German Studies at the University of Oldenburg and will take place there from 5 to 9 September 2022 as a face-to-face event (arrival 4 Sept., departure 10 Sept.). It is aimed at advanced students and doctoral candidates who have a fundamental interest in the regional language Low German, its literature and questions of its mediation and acquisition and/or an interest in regional linguistics, language variation and multilingualism.

We will inform you about the applicable hygiene concept in good time before the start of the event. Participation fees will not be charged. We plan to cover a proportion of the travel and accommodation costs. For participants from outside Oldenburg, we will also provide overnight accommodation in the city centre. The number of participants is limited to 20. Knowledge of Low German is not required.

If you are interested, please send your informal application with a convincing letter of motivation (approx. 1 page) by 29 May 2022 to:

You can download the call for applications together with the full programme here.

We look forward to receiving your applications and exchanging ideas with you!

Marina Frank & Doreen Brandt

University of Oldenburg
Institute for German Studies
Specialising in Low German and Sater Frisian