Chartered Institute of Linguists

On the Friday evening, those of us lucky enough to be staying at the Hotelo hotel were invited to a Prosecco reception by Norman Ellis, hosted in his bijou room. We then set off by tram and bus for dinner at the historical Heidelberger Kulturbrauerei. More than twenty GS members and guests enjoyed a balmy evening in the beer garden catching up with old friends and making new ones. We were particularly pleased to welcome several CIOL members from the UK, including our new CEO Alexandra Jones.

On Saturday, the sun rose and shone again all day for us. Our morning study session was held in the library of Heidelberg University's law faculty. This is housed in a neo-baroque building, which was once a bank. While the marble walls kept us nice and cool we were warmly welcomed by Prof Müller-Graff, Managing Director of the law faculty. He started off his brief presentation by giving us a potted history of Heidelberg University's six centuries of higher education and research activities and then talked about its 21st century global network.

In particular, Prof Müller-Graff is responsible for Heidelberg's exchange programme with Cambridge University. For 35 years there have been student exchanges between the two universities. The partners are individual colleges and the exchange programme covers all disciplines except medicine. German students going over to Cambridge are required to study something specific to that university, such as Wittgenstein.

Our next speaker, Dr Bahls, a historical guide, explained that there were three aspects to Heidelberg: the university, Heidelberg's history as the capital of the Lower Palatinate (until 1720) and Romantic Heidelberg. To illustrate the last he quoted a verse of an English translation of 'Alt Heidelberg du feine' , a famous German poem by Joseph Victor von Scheffel:

Dr Bahls then talked about how Heidelberg's university as we know it today had its roots in the beginning of the 19th century. He told us about Burschenschaften or fraternities (which can't be compared with US fraternities). These were founded throughout Germany after the Napoleonic wars, which had sparked nationalist sentiment. Students organized themselves in this way to prepare for a revolution to unify Germany. They felt they had to be able to fight. Gradually, the Burschenschaften moved away from their political roots and became a way of organising a community. They named themselves after the various German tribes (e.g., Rhenania after the Rhine) and their members wore different coloured caps and sashes (e.g. blue for the river Rhine).

Over time, the fraternities became more institutionalised and membership was for life. The number of fraternities mushroomed and became centred on the various university subjects. Today, fraternities have largely died out and only 5% of students are organised in fraternities, and only one-third of these still fence (but as always not against each other but with each other). Among the remaining fraternities old traditions are maintained, such as the Kneip, disciplined drinking sessions, and communal singing. Dr Bahl passed round the special song books with studs in the front and back covers which prevent the book getting wet when it is put down on the beer soaked tables.

The first queen was Blanche of England, an English princess of the House of Lancaster. She was the eldest daughter of King Henry IV, who deposed Richard II and then sought important alliances in order to maintain and legitimize his rule. One needed ally was King Rupert of Germany who started off as Elector of the Palatinate but went on to take the German throne after the deposition of King Wenceslaus. A marriage between Rupert's eldest surviving son Louis and Blanche was soon arranged. The marriage contract was signed in 1401 in London and the marriage ceremony took place one year later in Cologne. As part of her dowry Blanche was given the oldest surviving crown in England. (Today it can be viewed in Munich at the Residenzmuseum). Four years later, in Heidelberg, Blanche gave birth to a son, called Rupert. Sadly, Blanche died just two years later aged 17.

The story of the second of the three queens - Elizabeth Stuart - is much more dramatic and even sadder. Princess Elizabeth was the daughter of James I of England. Her father was considering marrying her off to Louis XIII of France, a Catholic king. This worried the advisers of the young Frederick V, Elector Palatine and head of the Protestant League. They feared that such a move would upset the confessional balance of Europe, so emissaries of the Elector were sent to the English court and, after intense negotiations (Frederick, after all was only an Elector and not a king), a marriage contract was signed in 1612.

The marriage ceremony was held in Whitehall Chapel in 1613 on St Valentine's day and the celebrations carried on for weeks afterwards. The alliance was feted as the marriage of the Thames and the Rhine. It is said that Shakespeare's Tempest was written especially for the wedding. However, by April the celebrations had bankrupted the court and the happy couple (she was known as the Queen of Hearts) sailed away on honeymoon from Margate. The story of the nuptial journey was very well documented and published. So we know that Frederick disembarked early so that he could rush to the castle in Heidelberg and oversee preparations. When Elizabeth disembarked in Ladenburg she was greeted by a huge welcome party, four triumphal arches, flowers, music and, for the first time, fireworks.

As part of the marriage negotiations Frederick had agreed to expand Heidelberg castle and, in the months that followed the couple's arrival, a so-called English wing was added which housed, among other things, a globe theatre. Extensive gardens were laid out which, although never finished, came to be called the 8th wonder of the world. The entrance to the new elaborate castle was dedicated to Elizabeth - the Elisabeth-Tor. In 1614 the couple's first son - Frederick Henry - was born.

The young couple were very much in love and went on to have 13 children altogether. At court they enjoyed all sorts of pastimes such as hunting and dressing up. However, in 1619 everything changed when, for reasons far too complicated to explain here, the states of the Bohemian Confederacy elected Frederick as the new King of Bohemia (and Elizabeth as his Queen).

Frederick assumed a weak crown and a state torn with internal divisions and, in 1620, the Holy Roman Emperor sent in his armies to overthrow Frederick V. No help was forthcoming from any of the Protestant allies and Frederick and Elizabeth had to leave in a hurry. They lived out the rest of their days in exile in the Netherlands. Frederick lost not only Bohemia but all of the Palatinate. In 1632 Frederick died of a fever aged just 36. Elizabeth spent the next 30 years until her death in 1662 grieving for her husband and for several of her children who also pre-deceased her.

However, the story didn't die with Elizabeth. In 1658, her youngest daughter, Sophia, married Ernest Augustus, the future Elector of Hanover. The Electress Sophia became the nearest Protestant relative to the British crown. Under the English Act of Settlement, the succession was settled on Sophia and her children, so that all monarchs of Great Britain from George I onward are descendants of Elizabeth Stuart. Which brings us to the third queen, who was christened Alexandrina Victoria but came to be known as Queen Victoria. Her father, Edward, Duke of Kent, was a son of George III. She inherited the throne at the age of 18 after her father's three elder brothers died without any surviving legitimate children.

Our last speaker of the day was the CIOL's very own CEO - Alexandra Jones, or Sandy as she likes to be called. Sandy was delighted that we had invited her to Heidelberg of all places, as this is where she spent six months of her gap year before going up to Oxford to study German and Greek. Sandy gave us a quick update on the Institute, which had been through a difficult patch, but that is behind it now. Some of the difficulties had arisen, in part, from antiquated administrative practices. Sandy has spent her first six months bringing procedures up-to-date.

Sandy then went on to speak about one of her passions, the Scottish Gaelic language, which she took up 10 years ago. There are fewer than 60,000 speakers of the language today and they are very scattered throughout Scotland. Nevertheless, the language is staging a revival. Sandy believes in language bio-diversity and the benefits of plurilingualism and, therefore, that all languages have a right to be supported.

Sandy also told us that she enjoys translating poems from German and Gaelic into English. She spoke about the challenges of translating poetry. She read out (and also sang beautifully) some of her translations and remarked that they were always a work in progress. We can't publish any of the examples as Sandy is in the throes of compiling a book of her poetry translations. Watch out for it next spring.

The morning's study session was followed by lunch in the famous Perkeo tavern. After this everyone split up and enjoyed the sunny afternoon in different ways (visits to the castle, shopping etc.). We met again in the evening for dinner and then, after dark, spilled out on to the meadows by the Neckar river to marvel at the castle illuminations and the fireworks let off from the Alte Brücke.

On Sunday morning our amazing weekend was rounded off with a tour of the centre of Heidelberg with none other than Mark Twain! He told us about his forthcoming book - A Tramp Abroad - and then took us around the city and told us tales of learned professors, famous students, old churches, ancient tomes and Heidelberg's famous sons and daughters (e.g. did you know that Friedrich Ebert, Germany's first president, was born and lived in Heidelberg?). Our tour ended in Heidelberg's cobblestone market place.

This year’s German Society study weekend could also be described as ‘War and Peace’, in that we went to learn more about the Battle of Blenheim on the spot, but also to learn about Unesco peace education projects and co-operation between a local German school and Marlborough School in England, and the close ties between the battle region and Blenheim Palace.

The battle is known in Germany either as the 2^nd Battle of Höchstädt, or the Battle of Höchstädt-Blindheim, which somehow became Blenheim for the British. We started our visit in the larger venue of Höchstädt, where we were very kindly welcomed by the town mayor, Hildegard Wanner. Frau Wanner gave us a brief outline of Höchstädt past and present, and the history of the palace in which we held the first meeting. Next, local schoolboy Stefan Lorenz, in the uniform of a drummer of the Guards’ Regiment of Elector Max Emanuel, demonstrated his impressive drumming skills to set the scene (his parents and sister Sarah, all keen local historians, were likewise present in period costume). We then heard a recording of a funeral march by Purcell and a reading of Robert Southey’s moving poem ‘The Battle of Blenheim’, after which renowned military historian Dr. Marcus Junkelmann, in the uniform of a Bavarian grenadier, took us through a myriad of military details: uniforms, equipment, weapons, musical instruments, the role of the drummer, the language of communication on the battlefield, nationalities present (who would have imagined that a female dragoon from Northern Ireland known as Mother Ross had been among the British contingent?!), the scale of casualties and the types of wound inflicted, plus the aims behind the battle, the course of the engagement and its outcome. Dr. Junkelmann’s breadth and depth of knowledge were matched only by his wit and enthusiasm. The morning conferencewas followed by visits to models of the battlefield in the palace exhibition and in the local museum which helped us to grasp the size and complexity of the battle.

Moving forward to the present day, we then heard from Agathe Lehr, a teacher at St. Bonaventura school in Dillingen. Frau Lehr told us about Unesco peace education and other international projects, and about local ties with Marlborough School and Blenheim Palace, in particular one of the Palace guides, Christine Gadsby, who is also a member of the academic staff. There have been exchange visits by school groups and other groups, including a number of concerts given in and around Höchstädt by the Blenheim Singers. The commemoration of the battle in 2004, which included a re-enactment, was a major event, as was the visit by the 11^th Duke of Marlborough. It was most heartening to hear of the wide range of cooperation across borders, and of the enthusiasm of Frau Lehr’s pupils for the various undertakings. Frau Lehr was the lynchpin of our visit, her input was invaluable and turned the weekend into an unforgettable experience for the GS.

In particular, we heard from former pupil Sarah Lorenz of efforts to preserve what remains of a former mill, seen ablaze in the battle tapestry at Blenheim Palace. The Simonsmühle dates back to the 13^th century. It served as a field hospital for the wounded from both sides during the battle, and is said to have been visited by Marlborough. Despite the owner’s resistance, the building has been accorded listed status. Sarah gave her power-point presentation very ably in English. Stefan Lorenz then gave us his power-point presentation about the battle, likewise in good English.

Sunday took us to Blindheim itself, just one of the sites of the overall encounter, where we were kindly welcomed by the mayor, Wilhelm Gumpp, and the curator of the local museum, Erwin Mayer. Close to the spot where Marlborough accepted the surrender of the opposing forces, there is now a memorial commemorating the battle and symbolising present friendship between nations. Here, too, there have been exchange visits with Blenheim Palace. In the town’s museum we saw various items salvaged then or latterly from the battlefield, and the book in which the 11th Duke of Marlborough signed his name on the occasion of the commemoration of the battle 300 years on in 2004. Former GS chairman Jadwiga Bobrowska, who organised the GS study weekend, signed the book on the society’s behalf. A much earlier prominent visitor to Blenheim was Winston Churchill, whose quote about the battle is engraved on the ground in front of the memorial: “The Battle of Blenheim moved the political axis of the world”. A memorial route was established in 2004 with commemorative plaques at various points of historical interest.

Our party then travelled across the former battlefield, accompanied part of the way by Herr Gumpp and Herr Mayer. We stopped to climb a recently erected viewing platform that allows a clear view over what is now beautiful, fertile farming land. From there, we resumed the link to today, and travelled to another preservation project, the Eichberger Hof (www.eichbergerhof.de). Thanks to architects Ludwig and Lisbeth Pfaud, the building, which Prinz Eugene of Austria is said to have visited, is now also being painstakingly restored. To our surprise, we were met here by the Lorenz family, again in period dress, and members of the society founded to preserve the Eichberger Hof, also in period dress, one of whom, in the guise of a Prussian officer, demonstrated the use of his musket (with no ill effects!).

At the very start of our meeting, Jadwiga referred to the Chartered Institute of Linguists’ motto, ‘Universal Understanding’, and this was very much at one with the Unesco projects we heard about, and the leitmotif for the entire weekend. Our special thanks go to Frau Lehr for all her work and great kindness, the Lorenz family for their own special contribution, the Mayors of Höchstädt and Blindheim and their staff, and the gentleman from the Donau-Zeitung Dillingen who accompanied us in Höchstädt and at the Eichberger Hof. We were met with kindness and interest at every turn, and cannot recommend too highly a visit to Höchstädt and Blindheim to those interested in this crucial event in European history.

By way of something completely different, we spent the Saturday evening in Augsburg. There, Roman Kotlarzewski, in his role as Jacob Fugger’s book-keeper Matthias Schwarz and dressed accordingly, took us on a fascinating and witty tour of the Fuggerei, a before-its-time social housing complex that still exists under much the same rules, before joining his Renaissance dance group, Augusta Historica (www.augusta-historica.de), for a demonstration of period dancing at the Fugger Palace. The costumes were made by group members, and the ladies dresses and headgear in particular were stunningly beautiful. We ‘had a go’ at a couple of the simpler dances ourselves, with brave Roman giving instructions, before dining in the atmospheric courtyard of the palace’s Damenhof.

On Friday evening we dined in a restaurant on the Schlossberg, with a view over the town. This was an opportunity to renew old acquaintances and make new ones. On Saturday, we met at the premises of the European Centre for Modern Languages. The bodies represented at the meeting were the centre, Graz University and the Institute of Linguists Cambridge and German societies. Each organisation was introduced, after which all those present introduced themselves and said something about their background and work.

The ECML, founded in 1994, is a Council of Europe institution (not to be confused with the European Council!), and is one of the few such bodies outside Strasbourg. It has 34 member states. Its aim is the promotion of and support for linguistic diversity as a source of potential from which great benefit can be drawn. The organisation favours the term plurilingualism for people, a new word for many of us, and multilingualism for societies. The university coordinates with the centre on a wide range of forward-looking projects. This is of necessity the briefest of summaries: For full details of the ECML’s work, see http://www.ecml.at.

Hermione Penz of Graz University then spoke about communication strategies for achieving understanding in intercultural project discussions, preferring a positive approach to the traditional deficiency-orientated approach. Communication strategies are used to prevent or repair breakdowns in communication. Analysis of the problems arising has revealed that they tend to occur at discourse level and in relation to frames of reference, politeness and listening, whereas actual cultural differences account for only a third of all misunderstandings. Hermione gave us some amusing examples of the type of crossed wire that can happen.

Next, GS chairman Mike Harrington made an impassioned plea for ‘Good old books as background reading for your specialisation’, based on his acquisition of old scientific textbooks. Specifically, he referred to a 1914 work on steam turbines and a later publication from 1926. There has been a fair degree of continuity over the years and decades in both terminology and institutions. Mike also says that Goethe’s writings on natural science are a must for understanding certain references in Faust. Language aside, says Mike, Goethe’s chapter on granite is as good as any modern book (geology being a major interest of Mike’s).

Georg Marko of the university took us into medicine with a critical analysis of the lay discourse on multiple sclerosis (having decided to abandon his original subject, the language of pornography). He examined social identities and shared features, health identities, and new groupings in post-traditional societies. Georg stressed the importance of Internet-based communication. He had chosen MS because of the urgent need for sufferers to organise their lives around it, and because it is a highly unpredictable disease. Patterns of communication had been identified via computer analysis, including the frequency of terms used, use of brand names, acronyms and clippings.

Finally, Bernhard Kettemann, likewise from the university, spoke on the language of alternative lifestyles, beginning with definitions of lifestyles. These encompass beliefs, attitudes and tastes, and are freely chosen. Lifestyle choice, he said, is close to ones own personal identity, and may become the foundation of interactive communities. Bernhard identified three types of alternative lifestyle, escapist, confrontational and reformist. The particular two he had studied were EMOS (young, introverted, much given to computer communication, very me-based, and violent), and LOHAS (lifestyles of health and sustainability), whose focus and motivation were very different. The language of both groups was analysed according to the frequency of the words and phrases used. All of the above was a far departure from the daily work of the translator, and was highly thought-provoking. It was a packed and varied morning, with much discussion ensuing, and it is a great pity that each speaker could not have had more time. Thanks to Waldemar Martyniuk, Director of the ECML, for taking the time to welcome us and introduce the organisation, Ursula Newby of the centre and David Newby of the University for talking about their respective fields of work, and the four other speakers mentioned above. Later on in the day, some of the group took the opportunity to go on a guided walking tour of Graz.

In the evening, we met for dinner in a delightful traditional restaurant which looked like someone’s living room, and provided excellent food, drink and service. On Sunday, we took a coach down to the Slovenian border and sat on the terrace of a most hospitable winery in lovely weather, with a breathtaking view. After a few glasses of local wines, various members present provided some off-the-cuff entertainment.

Over the weekend we came across a number of unfamiliar examples of Austrian German: For example, on the trams, a notice saying ‘Schwarzfahren führt zu Verspannungen’. Or a sign saying ‘Ordination’, which had nothing to do with the clergy but simply indicated a medical practice. There were a few parallels, too, with our Luxembourg visit in 2005: A wonderful host and hostess on the spot, a sudden deluge during an al fresco lunch, and accommodation full of surprises. Thanks to Ursula and David Newby for all their hard work to make it such a successful, fun weekend and to the Cambridge Society for inviting us to join in and for coordinating it all. We sincerely hope for another joint event in Germany this year.

Our Autumn 2008 study weekend “escape” was to Colditz via Leipzig. Admittedly, in the past the escape attempts tended to be the other way round. Moreover, for many of us the trip to Leipzig was a return visit, after more than 10 years, and we observed that much had changed for the better since then. On the Friday evening around 15 of us got together in the famous Auerbachs Keller. We had to go there, of course, you know the old adage:

For British people during and after WW2, the name Colditz took on quite a different meaning – somewhere dark and impenetrable. (Torah Borah is perhaps the current term for this type of place). During WW2, the castle on a rocky outcrop above the river Mulde, with its barred windows, presented an enormous challenge for would-be escapers. Which is why in 1939 the castle became Oflag IV C (Sonderlager IVC) housing Allied Officers who had made previous escapes or were otherwise deemed worthy of being closely confined. From here attempts to escape continued and, indeed, became a way of life.

The exhibits in the castle museum demonstrate that the camp was a hive of activity. Prisoners made keen use of their library, gave lectures and held language classes. They played in various bands and even an orchestra, and produced numerous plays. In addition to this, between 1941 and 1944, about 300 escape attempts were made, of which 31 were successful. For the officers it was not just an adventure but part of their code of honour.

With so many nationalities under one roof, language was an issue. At that time many of the Allied Officers would have spoken German. They also learnt other languages from each other during their incarceration. Language was a consideration for the Germans too. The chief security officer, Reinhard Eggers, was chosen for the job partly because he had learnt French and English at school. As always, there were the usual translation gaffes such as: “All British are warned to mutiny”.

A mock-up of various parts of an emigrant ship gave an excellent impression of the appalling conditions prevailing at the time, underlining the desperation people must have felt to leave their home country and submit themselves to these deprivations and uncertainties. We learned who had emigrated, when, why, and where from, and an excellent guide gave us greater detail about the food, drink and hygiene conditions prevailing over the decades.

It was interesting, too, to hear that Bremerhaven became the preferred point of departure in Europe, thanks to more exacting standards applicable to emigrant ships, which resulted in far lower mortality rates than on other routes to the New World. Likewise, it was fascinating to see how US immigration patterns have changed over the years.

Visitors were encouraged to complete a questionnaire to establish how flexible and adventurous they would be, and were also informed on tracing ancestors who might have emigrated. The museum is a much needed boost to a town in the grip of a post-industrial slump, with the concomitant social problems, and a welcome addition will be a museum taking visitors through the various climate zones of the world. We walked after lunch from the restaurant to the boat that was to take us back up the Weser to Bremen through a typical North Sea climate zone, i.e. rain and wind, prior to enjoying a relaxing journey up river, in conditions infinitely more pleasant than those on the emigrant ships. The day was rounded off by dinner at the restaurant attached to Bremen's main art museum, the Kunsthalle. And three members established during post-prandial extra-mural activities that Bremen's English Club is a flourishing concern!

On Sunday morning, a slightly reduced group (early departures, not the result of the post-prandial activities!) embarked on a guided walking tour of Bremen. We were lucky to have been allocated one of the best guides, if not the best, as her lively, humorous tales will no doubt stick in our minds far more than dry facts and figures would have done. We heard a lot about Bremen's history throughout the ages, some of its more colourful characters, and local sayings. We learned what visitors are supposed to do at the (relatively recent) statue of the

On a lovely September weekend, some 15 GS members and their guests went about as far East as you can go in Germany - to Frankfurt an der Oder (oder?). A wonderful weekend’s activities (complete with sunshine) had been arranged by Stephanie Tarling, a GS member resident on the spot. Those of us who got there early enough on the Friday evening met together in the charmingly rustic Kartoffelhaus, located on the old ‘Holzmarkt’ overlooking the Oder river.

The next morning we made our way to the ‘Europa Universität Viadrina’, Frankfurt’s ancient university. Lori Baldzikowski kicked off the morning session with a talk about the trans-border projects of the GZF – the Grenzüberschreitendes Zentrum für Fremdprachenvermittlung. This is funded by the university and its work is limited to the small border area. The project draws inspiration from both Goethe who said: “Der Deutsche soll alle Sprachen lernen, damit ihm zu Hause kein Fremder unbequem, er aber in der Ferne überall zu Hause sei”; as well as Wittgenstein who commented: “Die Grenzen meiner Sprache sind die Grenzen meiner Welt.”

Lori showed us clips of university students teaching German nursery songs to children in a Polish kindergarten. The students go out to some of the remote areas which otherwise have no language teaching resources. The ultimate aim of the project is to improve communication and understanding between the two peoples on either side of the river border. It’s easy to forget that the current border has only been there since 1945. Moreover, many of the Poles in Slubice, the Polish town just on the other side of the Oder, were re-settled there from parts of Eastern Poland which are now in the Ukraine. Thus the two peoples on this border share no

The fallout of Germany’s recent history was also the topic of the next speaker - Christian Zens, Stephanie’s husband and the next Chancellor of Viadrina University. Christian talked about the problems of restitution claims in Eastern Germany dating from the Nazi regime. Christian has been working as a lawyer for the Bundesamt für Zentrale Dienste und offene Vermögensfragen which deals with the restitution of property from the Nazi era. A very complex topic to put it mildly. Sixteen years after German unification the work of this

The root of the problem goes back to the time of the Allied occupation of Germany after the war. In the Soviet sector the authorities promoted land reform without resolving restitution and compensation matters. At the time, the Soviets considered these to be a Western problem as the GDR was an anti-faschist paradise. Christian has been working on some of the 2.5 million claims covering the period 1933-1945. The restitution guidelines are based on the assumption that the state persecuted particular individuals, companies and organization for a variety of reasons which resulted in forced sales and dispossessions of their property. Therefore, the victims of this persecution (and their heirs) are entitled to restitution and do not need to prove anything. It is estimated that this Bundesamt will not deal with all outstanding claims before 2015 (December 1992 was the deadline for claims).

After that fascinating, but mind-blowing, talk a lunch break was most welcome. The unrelenting sunshine meant that we could eat al fresco. After lunch it was back to the university for Dr Rita Aldenhoff-Hübinger’s talk about, and tour of, Viadrina & Collegium Polonicum. Viadrina – as the University of Frankfurt an der Oder is called - has been in existence for 500 years, although not continuously. It was re-established 12 years ago

having been out of action from 1811-1991. The name Viadrina comes from Latin and means ‘the one situated on the Oder.’ It is the oldest university in Brandenburg and boasts the Humboldt brothers, Heinrich von Kleist and C.P.E. Bach among its graduates. Today the Viadrina hosts some 5,000 students, with around one third coming from Poland, making it the smallest university in Germany. Languages are an important part of the curriculum and its president is Prof. Gesine Schwan. The Collegium Polonicum is a cross-border co-operation

After her walking tour Rita deposited us close to the tram depot where we boarded our historic, 1930s tram for a memorable ride through Frankfurt. En route we passed the, now abandoned, Soviet military barracks (with hammer and sickle still visible), as well as the hospital where one of Stephanie and Christian’s daughters first saw the light of day.

In the evening we all donned our glad rags and headed East to Slubice, in Poland, for a sumptuous dinner. All, that is, except for one member (you know who you are!) who omitted to bring any official identificiation. (No comment). On Sunday morning a walking tour of Frankfurt, taking in the Marienkirche, the largest hall church in Germany, with its exemplary Gothic brick style archictecture, rounded off a fascinating weekend.

Bernard took us through the definitions of ‘recent’, ‘criminal law’, ‘crime’ and ‘change’, then looked at amendments to UK law (the Criminal Justice Act of 2003, the Sexual Offences Act of 2003 and the pending Anti-Terrorist Act of 2005), correspondence with German law, and discrepancies between the two. He also raised the perennial question of when to leave a term untranslated, with reference to an EU guide which has a + / - / 0 system, and Bernard himself favours leaving the original and adding a note of explanation as often being the best solution. One interesting point to emerge from the subsequent discussion was the influence of television (in particular American programmes), which have led to defendants in France and Germany addressing the judge as Votre Honneur, or Euer Ehren, which does not correspond to the titles appropriate in France or Germany! Thanks also for the useful details Bernard had photocopied and distributed to us.

In the evening, Rosanne and Geoffrey kindly welcomed the group to their home where, after refreshments, we heard about the Luxembourg language, Lëtzebuergesch (which was officially elevated to the status of a language rather than a dialect in 1983), the influence on it of other languages, its grammar, regional variations within the country, and attempts to speak a ‘posh’ version to impress. Rosanne read us a Luxembourgisch version of The Town Mouse and the Country Mouse, followed by a short dictionary review, which we then studied. It seemed so much easier when you had the written text in front of you! Finally, we heard where, when and by whom Luxembourgisch is used, and in what combinations. Church services, for example, generally consist of prayers in French, readings in German and a sermon in Luxembourgisch. All in all, a linguistic set-up to make us Brits blush.

Of course, we learned far more than can be conveyed here – to say nothing of the numismatic dealings at dinner on Friday night, the various surprises the hotel had in store for us, the lengths to which Bernard had been forced to go in the line of duty in Egypt in the fight against immoral practices, the al fresco lunch best covered by the term ‘rain stopped play’, and last, by but no means least, the group’s Terpsichorean contribution to an Italian wedding reception at dinner on the Saturday evening. Yes, a good time was had by all.

Those of us who remained for the Sunday morning were treated to a tour of ‘Euroland’ aka Kirchberg. Until the 1960s this area of Luxembourg was agricultural land, but today it is home to the European Court of Justice as well as the permanent secretariat of the European Parliament (i.e. the people who work for the Euro MPs). While there is a European Parliament building on the Kirchberg, it is no longer used. The Luxembourg building very quickly became too small for the expanding European community and the parliament moved to Strasbourg. Indeed, it is likely that the secretariat will also have to move. However, it is probable that Luxembourg would be compensated by another Euro institution.

The highlight of the morning was a tour of the European Court of Justice (ECJ) by Estella Cigna, one of the lawyers working in the press office. The ECJ is 52 years old and started off with just 6 judges and 26 staff. This has since mushroomed and today 800 people work in the translation division alone. Every year there are 10,000 visitors to the ECJ, mostly law professionals, and there is a special organization service for the visitors which includes interpreting. We were shown round smaller chambers as well as the Grande Salle D’Audience, which is the chamber you will usually see on TV. All the rooms have plenty of interpreting booths as the judges and all the parties in the courts speak in their own languages. There are now 21 official languages. Estella commented that since last May’s EU enlargement sometimes it is difficult to even recognize which language is being spoken let alone understand it. Our thanks to Estella for giving up her Sunday morning to give us a fascinating insight into the workings of the ECJ.

Thomas explained how the Rhine developed in its dual function as a waterway and as a ource of myth and of romantic and political inspiration. The two German greats, Goethe and Heine, placed their mark, especially Heine with his "Lorelei". The political focus developed after the turmoil of the Napoleonic Wars, and when the Rhineland became the Prussian Rheinprovinz, both tourism and industrialisation caused river transport to intensify. The Rhine was now less romantic but still inspiring. The Catholic Rhinelanders favoured the philosophy of "work and play" and the Karneval was thus considered to be an antidote to the Prussian Protestant work ethic.

In the beginning were the British "Grand Tour-ists", who originated in the 16th century, with the classical destination of Italy via France, and then discovered the Rhine in the second half of the 18th century. A powerful literary advertising campaign drew heavily on Byron's Childe Harold's Pilgrimage, assisted by authors such as Schlegel, Brentano and Achim von Arnim and with pictorial support from the painters Turner and Clarkson-Stanfield. The Brits were helped in their touristic endeavours by Prussia's most romantic ruler, Friedrich Wilhelm IV, who acquired Burg Stolzenfels and promoted the ancient Roland Saga. After first being written by Brentano, then updated to best-seller standard by Heine, the "Lorelei" was translated not by a Brit but by Mark Twain. Roy Virtue treated us to an Irish version.

By 1840, an anti-Romanticist reaction had set in when Thomas Hood wrote "Up the Rhine", which debunked the romantic river, as did Chapter 2 of W.M. Thackeray's "Vanity Fair" and George Meredith's novel "Farina" of 1859. Putting the knife in further, Coleridge wrote a poem on Cologne and its stenches. These works touched on the theme of mass tourism concurring with growing industrialisation to destroy the Romantic aura.

Nevertheless, the romantic spirit still existed: The Kiedrich Church and the Abbey of Heisterbach were restored by Brits and the Upper Middle Rhine Valley was recognised as a Cultural Heritage Site by UNESCO in 2002. In this spirit, Jadwiga , Sally and some hand-picked members of the audience treated us to some ballroom dancing to the music of … guess it …. The "Lorelei".

After lunching in the vaults of the seminary belonging to the Erbacher Hof, we had our third session "Modern Language Teaching in England today – Are there any reasons for optimism?" by Martin Pennock of the IoL Cambridge Society. Martin first took us back to the turn of the last century when French was the only "respectable" language, German already being considered unpatriotic.

In Martin's own experience, there was a positive situation at grammar schools in the late sixties. There was a wider choice of languages and schools were already making good use of language laboratories. The nineteen seventies and eighties were a time of "creative anarchy". There were many parallel schemes, with their pros and cons, but older teachers with a more traditional, grammar-based approach were often unhappy. Even so, the raising of school leaving age to 16 had a beneficial effect on language learning, as did school exchanges.

Martin favours the International Baccalaureate, which always includes a language, and feels that GCSE should perhaps be abolished. Furthermore, universities should do more to improve links with schools and support reform of the A-level system. University courses combining a language and other disciplines, however, are on the increase.

The situation is now improving in that lessons have been learned from the above positive and negative experiences. For adult learners, good language-teaching materials are available from the BBC and the Open University. Young people are travelling more and taking an interest in less-known languages and, at long last, boys are becoming better language learners. Reinforcing the point made earlier, market pressure is also proving beneficial as graduates with languages have better employment prospects.

It's hard to say whether the Rhine is as addictive today as in the nineteenth century but I was certainly inspired enough to drive back home along the river rather than on the Autobahn, watching the sun set behind the steep vineyards as the romantic towns lit up one by one (keeping my eyes on the road of course – I wasn't so taken up by the Rhine as to drive into it).