3-4 November (Tuesday-Wednesday) |
International Conference
Europe Twenty Years after the Fall of the Berlin Wall: Overcoming “East and West” |
For details click here |
| Victoria University |
18 November
(Wednesday)
|
Panel Discussion
Berliner Mauerfall |
The fall of the Berlin Wall/Berliner Mauerfall in November 1989 signalled the beginning of a new era in German and European history. To mark the 20th anniversary of this turning point, the Goethe Society is hosting a panel discussion in which four well-qualified speakers will present a range of perspectives on the Mauerfall. They are H.E. Thomas Meister, Ambassador of the Federal Republic of Germany; Frau Dorit Hahn (M.A. Jena), Lecturer in Communciation at the Open Polytechnic of NZ; Dr Richard Grant, New Zealand Ambassador to the FRG 1990-94; and Dr John Leslie, Lecturer in European Politics at Victoria University. Dr Malcolm McKinnon has kindly accepted the role of moderator. Attendance is open to the public and audience participation will be welcomed. It would be helpful if attendance could be notified to goethe.society.wgtn@gmail.com |
| 7:30-9pm, Victoria University Murphy LT 101 |
Events earlier in the year:
18 March (Wednesday)
|
Annual General Meeting and BBQ |
Welcome to the new season and AGM. |
| 11 Armitage St, Ngaio, 6:30pm |
22 April
(Wednesday) |
A talk on New Zealand's relations with Germany,
by Peter Hamilton |
| Peter Hamilton is a New Zealand diplomat with over 30 years experience in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade. He is currently a Deputy Secretary in MFAT, with wide-ranging responsibilities which include New Zealand's relations with the Middle East, Africa and Europe - in particular the European Union, of which Germany is a key founding member. Mr Hamilton's most recent overseas posting was as New Zealand's Ambassador to Germany, from which he returned to Wellington in late 2006. He is a graduate of Auckland University, and has also had postings to Suva, Ottawa, Geneva (the GATT, forerunner of the WTO), and Apia. |
| 7:30pm, Victoria University Hunter LT 119 |
20 May
(Wednesday) |
A talk on the work of the Goethe Institut,
by Christoph Muecher |
Christoph Muecher is the Director of the New Zealand branch of the Goethe Institut, a world-wide organisation sponsored by the German Government which promotes and offers German language study and cooperates with New Zealand organisations to bring programmes of cultural interest to New Zealand. Herr Muecher has been with the Goethe Institut for 15 years: in addition to short training intervals in Montreal and Abidjan, he has spent 5 years in Tokyo, 6 years at the Goethe Institut headquarters in Munich, and the past 4 years in New Zealand. |
| 7:30pm, Victoria University Hunter LT 119 |
17 June
(Wednesday) |
Lecture
Dr Richard Berkeley
"Coleridge and the Problem of Reason in German Thought" |
In eighteenth century German thought there was a major controversy over the meaning of reason, the Pantheismusstreit. This took the form of a crisis over the freedom and meaning of finite human life. Kant’s thought was ground zero for a lot of this intellectual tension, but it was most directly expressed and argued by figures such as Lessing, Jacobi, Mendelssohn and Schelling.
Samuel Taylor Coleridge was an English poet who was profoundly affected by this controversy. His poetry and his thought are marked by the anxiety over the freedom of the thinking subject. His major poetry such as the Eolian Harp, The Rime of the Ancient Mariner, and Christabel presents us with some of the most haunting images of the loss of self, or the enslavement of self that can be found in the English language. In this talk I will explore the connections between this German philosophical controversy and his poetry. |
| Dr Berkeley completed his PhD on this area at the Australian National University in 2001 and has presented his work at numerous conferences and in the form of a book: Coleridge and the Crisis of Reason (Palgrave, 2007). |
| 7:30pm, Victoria University, Hunter LT 119 |
23 July
(Thursday) |
German Quiz Night |
Come along to our German-themed quiz and win $100! Teams of 3–5 compete in 8 rounds of questions that will test your knowledge of all things German! To register, email your team name, members and a contact number to vuwgermanclub@gmail.com. Registration costs $20 per team.
There will be questions in German, so you will need a good understanding of the language.
In cooperation with the VUW German Students' Club. |
| Victoria
University, Student Union Building, Meeting Rm 1 & 2, 7pm |
| July/August |
Con Kooznetzoff Award |
...to be announced and applications to be received. The Con Kooznetzoff Award allows a school in the Wellington area that has contributed to the German teachers' and students' activities consistently to apply for a patronage. Money goes towards supplementary teaching resources. |
| more info |
16-18 September (Wednesday-Friday) |
VUW German Club Play
Schiller! oder: die Leiden des alten Goethe(Schiller! or: The Sorrows of Old Goethe) |
10 May 1805: His Excellency, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe comes back from Friedrich von Schiller’s funeral. A nosy TV reporter asks him abouthis friend. Goethe, at first reluctant, starts to talk about his best friend’s life and plays. While he talks, scenes from the plays come to life: the high drama of the Robbers – passion, betrayal and sacrifice; Don Carlos – a passionate plea for human rights; Wallenstein – a multi-faceted portrait of a perplexing character; Maria Stuart – two rival queens fight it out; William Tell – a reluctant freedom fighter; and many others. A composite picture of an outstanding playright and ardent advocate of liberty and human rights emerges from Goethe’s reminiscences: Friedrich von Schiller will be greatly missed but he lives on in his plays. |
| Memorial Theatre, Victoria University, 7pm |
8 October
(Thursday) |
A talk about Mendelssohn's life and work
by Joe Taëni |
This year marks the 200th anniversary of the birth of the renowned German Romantic composer Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy (1809-1847). Joe Taëni is a member of our committee and an accomplished musician himself. The venue for his talk is the Hunter Council Chamber at Victoria University, which houses the Turnovsky piano, a full-sized concert grand Steinway. Several original pieces of Mendelssohn's piano work will be performed by two pupils of Judith Clark to illustrate the talk. There will also be time for questions.
Free admission to Goethe Society members, otherwise gold coin donation
|
Victoria University, Hunter Council Chamber (Level 2 Hunter Buidling, access through Gate 1 or 2, Kelburn Parade), 7pm (doors open) - 8:30pm |
Programmes of previous years: 2006 2007 2008
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