04/06/2014, by CLAS

Sinterklaas, Cinderella and Sauerkraut…

With the academic year 2013-14 drawing to a close, DAAD-Lektor Sascha Stollhans looks back at some of the events held in the German Department over the past twelve months…

The German Department offers various opportunities for students to practise their German and get insights into German culture outside the classroom. There is a wide range of social events, extracurricular activities and competitions every year. Many of them are organised in cooperation with the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) and the Goethe-Institut. Here is a brief overview of some of the events the German Department organised in 2013-14:

Two undergraduate students meet Sinterklaas.

Social events

One of this year’s highlights was definitely the German-Dutch Nikolaus/Sinterklaas party. It was a fantastic opportunity for staff and students to get to know each other better over Lebkuchen and a glass of Glühwein (mulled wine), while learning about some German and Dutch Christmas traditions and listening to German and Dutch Christmas songs. Special thanks to our second year student Jordan Bertenshaw who acted as our Sinterklaas.

Another great event was our German Karnevalsparty including “Berliner” (a German speciality: jam filled doughnuts) and a competition for best fancy dress. (See the photo at the top of the page.)

The cast of “Aschenputtel”.

German play

This year’s German play “Aschenputtel” (Cinderella) was a huge success – both shows were sold out. Alexandra Marchbank, one of the student actresses, writes:

“This year’s German Theatre production at the University of Nottingham took a new perspective on the story of Cinderella, a fairy tale which we thought that we all knew and loved. This interpretation saw a more modern setting for the play, with some fairly drastic changes: the fairy Godmother had been cut out and it was Cinderella who took control of her future. The prince preferred campaigning for ‘Grüner Frieden’ over dancing, and the ugly sister acted alone, without her partner in grime. However, the magic and light-heartedness of the original tale remained, brought up to date with a different setting and relatable characters. We had tremendous fun compiling the script, designing staging and inventing plot twists, and we hope you enjoyed coming along and watching.”

A huge thank you goes to the all students involved (Ellie Cooke, Alexandra Marchbank, Emily Millington, Maxine Prosser, Emma Young, Caroline Zottl)! More pictures can be found here.

Fairy-tale Competition

Congratulations to the winners of our fairy-tale competition. Then often humorous, sometimes spooky entries were on display at the reception after the performances of “Aschenputtel”, as well as a poster exhibition provided by the Goethe-Institut. First prizes went to Samuel Osborn, Jordan Bertenshaw and Martin Walter; prizes also went to Sophia Danielsson-Waters, Olivia Dellow, Kirsten Done and Kathryn Harris.

All winning entries will be published bit by bit in our student-run German newspaper Die Nottinghamer Rundschau.

The NottingHamburger SV ready for kick off in Birmingham.

Sauerkraut Cup

The Sauerkraut Cup is an annual inter-university football tournament between students studying German across the UK, and is organised by the DAAD. Well done to our students who did a fantastic job in this year’s DAAD Sauerkraut Cup which took place in Birmingham on Saturday 26 April 2014:

Peter Barnes (Y4), Jordan Bertenshaw (Y2), Ryan Fletcher (Y2), Steven Gough (Y4), Calum Scotland (Y2) and Fiona Smith (Y2). Even though our team, the NottingHamburger SV, did not win the Cup this year, it was a very enjoyable day.

Writer in Residence

Every other year, the German Department welcomes an author from a German speaking country. This year the Iranian-born German writer Sudabeh Mohafez joined us for two weeks. Read more about the events she was involved in here.

Thanks to all staff and students for such an enjoyable and eventful year. Keep informed by liking our Facebook page. If you have any questions or ideas for future events or projects, or if you would like to get involved in a project, please contact Sascha Stollhans.

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