To celebrate the 50th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and Germany, the German Department of Foreign Studies College of Hunan Normal University and the Humboldt Centre for Interdisciplinary Studies jointly planned the first German Cultural Festival under the banner of “Building bridges of friendship and promoting the development of the discipline” on October 11, 2022.

The opening ceremony was held at the Foreign Studies College of Hunan Normal University, with the presence of Zeng Yangyu, Dean of Foreign Studies College; Jiang Lihua, Vice Dean; Liu Bai, Vice Dean; and Professor Ole Döring at Room 613, Foreign Studies College. Prof. Ottmar Ette, Director of HCTS; Prof. Martin Woesler; Ms. Zhou Jing, Deputy Director of the European Department of Hunan Foreign Affairs Office; Dr. Hannes Jedeck, German Executive Director of the Confucius Institute in Bonn; Prof. Cord Eberspächer and all the German major students attended the online event.

The opening ceremony was chaired by Li Mi, Deputy Secretary of Foreign Studies College, and was addressed by Prof. Zeng Yanyu, Professor Ottmar Ette, Ms. Zhou Jing, Dr. Hannes Jedeck, Professor Martin Woesler and Professor Ole Döring. They reviewed the history of Sino-German relations and expressed their expectations for the continued development of Sino-German exchanges. This German Cultural Festival had sown the seeds of friendship and was conducive to the long-term development of Sino-German relations, which was of far-reaching significance.

The students and teachers of German major have been actively involved in various cultural exchange activities since the building of German Department of Foreign Studies College in 2020. With the opening of this Cultural Festival, the German majors will be organising a series of academic events over the next two months. These activities will strongly promote Sino-German friendship, the development of the discipline and the cultivation of talents. The closing ceremony of the cultural festival will be held at the end of November.

Speech by Prof. Ottmar Ette, Director of HCTS, at the opening ceremony: