Talk from James Braund - 250th anniversary of the Forsters' arrival in NZ (August 16th 2023)
/This year marks the 250th anniversary of the arrival of the first Germans to visit New Zealand – Johann Reinhold Forster (1729-1798) and his son George (1754-1794), who served as the official naturalists on James Cook’s second Pacific voyage.
Between the autumn of 1773 and the summer of 1774, the Forsters spent some twenty months sailing the waters of the South Pacific, during which time they amassed a large body of information and impressions relating to the fauna, flora and indigenous peoples of the region. Widely regarded in their own lifetime as the Pacific experts of eighteenth-century Germany, the Forsters inspired scientists and dreamers alike, and a surprising amount of the material they gathered in the Pacific remains both relevant and in use today.
Focusing on New Zealand in particular, in which the Forsters spent a total of four months over three separate visits, this presentation will briefly survey the key legacies – historical, scientific, and artistic – of these two German polymaths, and will also consider how the observations they made in the Pacific could have informed the holistic view of nature later made famous by their countryman, Alexander von Humboldt (1769-1859).
James Braund is currently an Honorary Research Fellow within the School of Cultures, Languages and Linguistics. He has lectured and published widely on the various German connections with New Zealand and the Pacific, and has been an active member of the University of Auckland’s Research Centre for Germanic Connections with New Zealand and the Pacific since its inception in 1999.
Goethe Society Oral Exams (July 29th 2023)
/The 2023 Goethe Society Oral Exams were held again at the Epsom Campus of the University of Auckland. Over 120 students from High Schools in Auckland with a German program attended the Goethe Oral Exams on Saturday 5th August.
Eleven examiners from High Schools, the University of Auckland, the German-New Zealand Chamber of Commerce and the German Consulate came together to see very talented and dedicated learners of German. The prize-giving ceremony to honoring all impressive achievements will take place on October.
Written by Mareike Schmidt
Group photo of the examiners meeting at a cafe after the ags oral exams.
Film Screening of Der Himmel über Berlin (July 18th 2023)
/The Auckland Goethe Society’s latest film screening was the 1987 award winning German fantasy/romance film, Der Himmel über Berlin, courtesy of the Goethe-Institut.
The film is about invisible, immortal angels who populate Berlin and listen to the thoughts of its human inhabitants, comforting the distressed. One of the angels falls in love with a beautiful, lonely trapeze artist. The angel chooses to become mortal so that he can experience human sensory pleasures, ranging from enjoying food to touching a loved one, and so that he can discover human love with the trapeze artist.
Our film nights are always a fantastic opportunity to engage with German films you may have never seen before—or seen several times! We host film screenings a few times a year, so keep an eye out for our next event.
Written by Vanessa Chong
German Drama Company: Mord Streng Biologisch (2023 Production)
/The German Drama Company’s 2023 production, Mord Streng Biologisch, was performed on 4th-8th July at the University of Auckland’s Drama Studio.
The acting, singing and dancing were superb, the costume, makeup and set design was fantastic, and the plot and characters were funny and captivating. Although the play was fully in German, it also had English surtitles (live captions) to allow audiences with a range of German language skills to enjoy it!
The German Drama Company look forward to putting on more shows to promote the German language in the future! For more information about the German Drama Company and how to be part of future productions, visit: https://www.facebook.com/GermanDramaCompany/
Written by Vanessa Chong
