Undergraduate Program in German at Illinois Urbana-Champaign

Interested in taking courses with the Department of Germanic Languages and Literatures? Sign up for the Spring 2026 semester! 🇩🇪🇦🇹🇨🇭🇱🇮🇱🇺🇧🇪🇸🇪🇳🇴🇮🇸🇩🇰🇫🇮🇫🇴🇦🇽🇬🇱

Join us for our final Filmabend of the semester on Thursday, April 16th, at 6:00 PM in the Lucy Ellis Lounge (LCLB Ground Floor behind the Elevators). 🎥🍿 We will be showing the Austrian-German War/Crime Drama “Die Fälscher” (2007):

The Counterfeiters is the true story of the largest counterfeiting operation in history, set up by Germany in 1936. Salomon “Sally” Sorowitsch is the king of counterfeiters. He lives a mischievous life of cards, booze, and women in Berlin during the N**i era. Suddenly his luck runs dry when arrested by Superintendent Friedrich Herzog. Immediately thrown into the Mauthausen concentration camp, Salomon exhibits exceptional skills there and is soon transferred to the upgraded camp of Sachsenhausen. Upon his arrival, he once again comes face to face with Herzog, who is there on a secret mission. Handpicked for his unique skill, Salomon and a group of professionals are forced to produce fake foreign currency under the program Operation Bernhard. The team, which also includes detainee Adolf Burger, is given luxury barracks for their assistance, but while Salomon attempts to weaken the economy of Germany’s enemies, Adolf refuses to use his skills for German profit and would like to do something to stop Operation Bernhard’s aid to the war effort. Faced with a moral dilemma, Salomon must decide whether his actions, which could prolong the war and risk the lives of fellow prisoners, are ultimately the right ones.

Join us for Filmabend this evening, March 25th, at 6:00 PM in the Lucy Ellis Lounge (LCLB Ground Floor behind the Elevators). 🎥🍿 We will be showing the German historical comedy/drama “Fack ju Göhte” (2013):

Bank robber Zeki has a problem, the catch from the latest robbery is buried in a place where there is now a school gym. To gain access to the school’s basement and from there dig a tunnel, he is forced to take a job as a substitute teacher.

Join us on Friday, March 6th at 3 PM in LCLB 2090B for our Distinguished Max Kade Visiting Professor Lecture. Professor Philipp Weber from the Ruhr-Universität Bochum will be discussing “Margarete and the Evil Spirit: The Unconscious Practices of Power and Their Critique in Goethe’s Faust.”

Interested in discussing current issues in Europe?

Sign up for GER 205 with Professor Niekerk!

Course taught in English and satisfies Gen Ed requirements for “Historical and Philosophical Perspectives” and “Western/Comparative Cultures”

KAFFEEKLATSCH 😎🇱🇮🇧🇪🇱🇺☕️

KAFFEEKLATSCH 😎🇩🇪🇦🇹🇨🇭☕️

Join us for our first Filmabend of the semester on Tuesday, February 17th, at 6:00 PM in the Lucy Ellis Lounge (LCLB Ground Floor behind the Elevators). 🎥🍿 We will be showing the German historical sports drama “Das Wunder von Bern” (2003):

An 11-year-old boy, Matthias, finds a father figure in local football hero Helmut Rahn, while his own father, Richard, returns home after 11 years as a POW, struggling to reconnect with his family and a country that has moved on…

Join us for Kaffeeklatsch every Wednesday from 5-6 PM in LCLB 1030. We hope to see you there! ☕️

Congratulations, Elisa! 🎉🇩🇪

Meet our grad students and TAs for the 2025-26 academic year!