German Language Week 2025
October 14 2025
German is one of Belgium’s three official national languages and is firmly embedded in the country’s cultural life. The annual Week of the German Language, held each October since 2022, is dedicated to promoting and raising the visibility of German. In 2025, the theme was ‘Humor, Magic and Playfulness’.
The week was jointly organised by the German Embassy, the DAAD, the Belgian Association of Germanists and Teachers of German (BGDV), the German-speaking Community of Belgium, the Goethe-Institut Belgium, and other partner institutions.
The DAAD hosted three interactive events designed to encourage participation and strengthen exchange between DAAD lecturers, German-speaking and German-learning students, as well as other stakeholders in the German language. The aim was to generate new ideas, deepen relationships, and foster lasting networks.
On 6 October 2025, the DAAD Brussels Office organised a meeting to discuss the situation of German Studies and the teaching of German as a foreign language (DaF) in Belgium and the Netherlands. The aim was to engage in dialogue with DAAD and local lecturers to examine challenges and perspectives in both countries.
German Studies and German language teaching face significant challenges in Belgium and the Netherlands: declining numbers of students, teachers, and learners, political budget cuts, and a loss of public image all characterise the current situation. Initiatives such as the DAAD lectureships, the Local Lecturers Programme, and stronger networking activities can offer valuable impetus – for example, to increase the visibility and appeal of the field, attract new talent, and develop innovative formats.
The meeting also gave Arpe Caspary, who is responsible for the Local Lecturers Programme at the DAAD, an opportunity to outline how the programme’s funding opportunities can be utilised – including as a way of addressing some of the aforementioned challenges.
To effectively tackle these issues, close cooperation between universities, ministries, embassies, higher education associations, chambers of commerce, and cultural institutions is essential. Looking beyond national borders not only opens up new perspectives but also creates opportunities to learn from one another and further develop promising approaches.
This meeting marked the beginning of a strengthened thematic dialogue between DAAD and local lecturers in the Benelux countries – with the goal of expanding exchange in the future and jointly developing viable strategies for the future of German Studies and German language teaching.
On 7 October, the DAAD collaborated with the Belgian Association of Germanists and German Teachers (BGDV) to organise and co-finance an interactive game show held at the Hessian State Representation in Brussels. The German language served as a unifying element during an intercultural evening, facilitated by the late-night host Daniel Breuer from the Brachland Ensemble.
European students and German learners had the opportunity to engage in conversation through a variety of formats, including personal interviews and interactive moments. It was through their collaboration that the most beautiful and most difficult words in the German language were discovered, that an own dance style for the German language was invented – as well as an animal that could symbolise Germany.
On this evening, the German language was a useful tool for facilitating communication and fostering understanding, igniting conversations and offering new perspectives that extended beyond the event itself.
On 8 October, the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) hosted a workshop on German-language spoken word poetry at its premises. Over a period of approximately four hours, a space for the exploration and innovation in German language usage was established.
In the context of a beginner’s course, students from various universities were instructed by the poetry slammer Paul Bank to explore the poetic expressiveness of the German language. Through a variety of course elements and intensive exchange with each other, the participants found individual and creative approaches to the German language.
In the course of the workshop, Paul Bank imparted instruction in the fundamental techniques of creative writing, whilst simultaneously encouraging the participants to identify their own individual voice. Through a series of exercises, the participants gradually discovered that any word, topic or feeling can serve as the origin for a creative text, characterised by freedom in form, style and content.
In conclusion, the students presented a series of texts that demonstrated the rich and varied nature of German as a form of expression, showcasing its capacity to be both melodious and lively. The workshop functioned as a space for experimentation with and transcendence of linguistic boundaries, as well as for the establishment of new connections between students.
