About Us
The Department at a glance
Subject areas
Modern German Literary Studies
Medieval German Language and Literature
German Linguistics
Didactics of German Language and Literature
German as a Foreign Language
Facilities at the Department of German Philology
Studies and Research at the Department of German Philology
Studies
The following degree programs are offered at the Department of German Philology:
- B.A. German Language and Literature [de]
- B.A. German as a Foreign Language [de]
- Teacher-Training Degrees German (secondary schools) [de]
- Primary Education [de]
- German as a Foreign Language as a Subsidiary Subject [de]
- Low German as a Subsidiary Subject [de]
- M.A. German Literature Studies [de]
- M.A. Culture - Interculturality - Literature (CIL) [de]
- M.A. Language and Communication + M.A. Language and Communication: International [de]
Research at the Department of German Philology
You can find recent publications at the Department of German Philology here.
You can view details of recently secured external funding at the Department of German Philology here.
In addition, further information is available under the tab “Research”, which lists detailed information on projects, academic qualification theses, and collaborations.
CHE Ranking Label 2025/26 for German Studies
Virtual tour of the Department
History of the Department
In 1840, the University of Greifswald was awarded the first ‘Extraordinariat’ for German philology (‘Professorship for Oriental Languages, Comparative Linguistics and Old German Philology’).
A department of German philology was founded in 1876 under the name “Germanistisches Seminar”. The founder and first professor was the German philologist Wilhelm Wilmanns, who only taught in Greifswald for a few years (then in Bonn) - a memorial plaque can be seen on his former home, very close to the current department (Domstraße 30).
Famous professors at the Department included Gustav Ehrismann (1909-1924), Paul Merker (1921-1928), Wolfgang Stammler (1924-1937), Leopold Magon (1928-1950), Hildegard Emmel (1956-1958) and Bruno Markwardt (1952-1966).
During the GDR era, the Department was dissolved and incorporated into the “German Studies, Art and Musicology Section”; in 1990 it was re-founded as the “Department of German Philology”.