German Society newsletter – October 2018

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Welcome to the autumn issue of the CIOL German Society newsletter. We bring you a report by Mike Harrington on the Society’s annual Anglophoner Tag, an incredibly informative and enjoyable collection of talks and seminars, held this year at Greifswald, information on the forthcoming Translators’ Workshop in Berlin, and other news.

Sally Lamm
CIOL German Society

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Anglophoner Tag

This year it was our turn to host the annual Anglophoner Tag and, at the suggestion of Walter Chromik, who has links to this fine old university city, we chose Greifswald in Pomerania in the far north-east of Germany with its rich, Swedish-influenced history. Greifswald and the surrounding area were immortalised in the paintings of Caspar David Friedrich, one of its most famous sons. The 2018 Anglophoner Tag included an exploration of the visual art of Caspar David Friedrich as well as translation in a selection of the other arts.

German Society goes Viennese

The German Society held its traditional September study weekend in Vienna, with the theme “Vienna Present and Past”. Attendance at the various events ranged from 20 to 30 people, starting with a visit to the UN building, and took in a “Cold War Vienna” tour, followed by coffee and cake to sample Vienna’s famous ‘coffee house’ tradition, and finishing on Sunday morning with a visit to the military museum.

Translators’ Workshop in Berlin – 3 November 2018

Registration for the Translators’ Workshop is still open.

Those of you who are not able to join us for the Study Weekend in Vienna on 14 – 16 September 2018 might like to come along to our annual all-day translators’ workshop in Berlin on Saturday 3 November 2018.

Our speakers will cover a range of topics, including legal translation, translation for the music industry, and the translation of subtitles.

If you would like to participate please send an e-mail to Jadwiga ASAP at J.Bobrowska@gmx.net for more details as well as information about overnight accommodation in Berlin.

Save the date: Anglophoner Tag 2019

Topic: "Artificial intelligence and its consequences for our profession"
Where: Würzburg
When: 15 June 2019

If you would like to give a presentation on this topic, please contact the organiser Martin Kuchenmeister, from the BDÜ, directly at kuchenmeister@bdue.de.

News in brief

• Congratulations to one of our former speakers, Nichola Hayton, President of the Deutsch-Britische Gesellschaft Rhein-Neckar e.V., on being awarded the MBE in the Queen's Birthday Honours list for services to UK/German relations.

• Some of you may remember former GS member Nigel Assen. For many years, Nigel ran the English Speaking Club in Frankfurt am Main, and in this capacity he often obtained premises for the GS to use at no expense. Sadly, Nigel died in May aged 88 after spending his last years in a care home.

• Last month Sally Lamm attended an event organised jointly, under the aegises of the Deutsch-Britische Gesellschaft Rhein-Main, by the British Consulate in Düsseldorf, and an organisation called British in Germany. The latter is affiliated to a wider movement, British in Europe, and is a citizens' rights pressure group concerned with the future of British citizens in mainland EU countries after Brexit. Similar events have been held elsewhere in Germany.

The good news was that an agreement has been reached on citizens' rights, the details of which are highly reassuring. The bad news was that it hasn't yet been ratified, and this is linked to the question of the Northern Irish border, so it's a case of 'nothing's agreed until everything's agreed'.

The many questions put to the four speakers by members of the large audience were a reminder of just how complex and far-reaching Brexit will be. For those applying for German citizenship, an added handicap is the fact that applications are handled differently according to the local authority involved. Moreover, one or two present had been told by the German authorities, when inquiring why the process was taking so long, that their papers had been sent to the UK!

Anyone interested can find out more at www.britishingermany.org, or at https://www.gov.uk/world/organisations/british-embassy-berlin