The Department of Germanic Philology and Translation has existed since the founding of Chernivtsi University (1875) and is one of the leading departments in the fields of Germanic, general, and comparative-historical linguistics in Ukraine and abroad.
The following professors worked at the department: 1875-1892 – Prof. J. Strobl (German Gothic epic, Romanticism, syntax, word formation); 1892–1918 – Prof. O. Singerle von Summersberg (Germanic studies, Gothic grammar, dialectology, history of the German language); 1911-1916 – Prof. W. Kosch (modern German literature, dramaturgy, practical German language); 1911-1918 – Prof. H. Reichel (comparative grammar, general linguistics, dialectology).
In 1918-1940, the department was taught by Prof. V. Morariu (history of German literature) and Prof. Franz Lang (German folk epic).
Since 1954, the department has been part of the Faculty of Romano-Germanic Philology, and later the Faculty of Foreign Languages.
In 1976, the department was renamed the “Department of German Language and General Linguistics” and began providing linguistics courses for the Faculty of Foreign Languages and the Faculty of Philology.
From 2001 to 2023, the department was called the “Department of Germanic, General and Comparative Linguistics.”
Since 2023, the department has been renamed the “Department of Germanic Philology and Translation.”
Heads of the department at different times were: O.P. Voloshchuk, R.I. Kamelin, N.Ye. Nollen, V.S. Babenko, V.S. Lyubopytnova, N.S. Bielashova, I.L. Turchyn, V.V. Levytskyi (1974-2012), V.I. Kushneryk (2012-2020), S.V. Kiyko (2020-2024). Since 2024 – O.D. Kudriavtseva.
The main research areas of the department include lexical and phonetic semantics, history and etymology of Germanic languages, inter-level relations in Germanic languages, functional stylistics, cognitive linguistics, pragmatics, phraseology, text linguistics, and mathematical linguistics.
The department publishes the scientific journal Herman’ska Filolohiia (Germanic Philology) of Chernivtsi National University (founded by Prof. V.V. Levytskyi).
The department’s lecturers have published numerous textbooks, manuals, anthologies, and methodological developments for students, including:
Introduction to Germanic Philology (V.V. Levytskyi, S.V. Kiyko, Yu.Ye. Kiyko);
Lexicology (S.V. Kiyko, Yu.Ye. Kiyko, A.A. Korol, V.V. Levytskyi, O.D. Ohui);
History of the German Language (S.V. Kiyko, V.V. Levytskyi);
Introduction to Linguistics (Yu.Ye. Kiyko, Yu.Y. Matskuliak, S.V. Kiyko);
General Linguistics (Yu.Ye. Kiyko);
German Language (S.V. Kiyko, Yu.Ye. Kiyko, L.H. Oleksyshyna, I.V. Osovska);
Theoretical Grammar of the German Language (Yu.Ye. Kiyko, O.D. Kudriavtseva).
The department’s scholars have published their research in leading international journals such as Indogermanische Forschungen, Historische Sprachforschungen, Quantitative Linguistics, Glottometrics, Lexicographica, Glottotheory, and Movoznavstvo, which are indexed in scientometric databases.
Since 1983, a postgraduate program in specialty 10.02.04 – Germanic Languages has been operating at the department (supervised by V.V. Levytskyi, O.D. Ohui, V.V. Kozlovskyi, V.I. Kushneryk, S.V. Kiyko, Yu.Ye. Kiyko, I.M. Osovska, I.P. Zadorozhna). Doctoral studies have been available since 2012.
S.V. Kiyko, I.M. Osovska, and Yu.Ye. Kiyko are members of specialized academic councils at Kyiv National Linguistic University, Ivan Franko National University of Lviv, National Pedagogical Dragomanov University, and Yuriy Fedkovych Chernivtsi National University. The department has trained eight Doctors of Philological Sciences and more than 70 Candidates of Philological Sciences.
The department actively cooperates with German-speaking academic exchange services DAAD (Germany) and ÖAD (Austria), whose lecturers (G. Knaus, M. Winkler, R. Mayer, Sh. Stegman, K. Laich, B. Grill, K. Brunner, J. Schorr) traditionally teach at the department. With the support of the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD), seminars and master classes in Germanic studies, teaching methodology, and translation practice are held at the department (Prof. D. Cherubim, Prof. Sh. Schirholz, Prof. M. Schulz, Prof. I. von der Lühe, Prof. F. Simmler, Prof. K. Nord).
The department maintains active cooperation with German-speaking universities: Ludwigsburg University of Education (Germany), University of Augsburg (Germany), University of Göttingen (Germany), Technical University of Berlin (Germany), and University of Klagenfurt (Austria). Close ties are maintained with universities in Ukraine (Lviv, Kyiv, Odesa, Lutsk, Ivano-Frankivsk, Ternopil, Vinnytsia, Khmelnytskyi, Kamianets-Podilskyi), Poland (Wrocław), Romania (Suceava), and the Czech Republic (Pilsen). Thanks to cooperation with Ludwigsburg University, supported by DAAD, as well as ERASMUS, ÖAD, Bosch-Stiftung, and Alexander von Humboldt-Stiftung programs, students and lecturers of the department have the opportunity to undertake annual internships at German higher education institutions. Methodological seminars, webinars, and workshops for lecturers and school teachers are held regularly, which helps implement modern methods of teaching German at the Faculty of Foreign Languages and in Chernivtsi schools.
The department’s library contains more than 3,000 books on German literature, Germanic, general, and comparative linguistics, and country studies, thanks to donations from the personal collections of Professors D. Cherubim and V. Levytskyi, and Associate Professors V. Ivaniuk, A. Zhovkivskyi, and V. Fedoryshchev.
The high level of teaching and the use of the latest teaching methods allow our students to win prize places at the annual All-Ukrainian Olympiads in German Language and Translation (A. Kyselova, T. Hryhoriichuk, O. Demchuk, A. Kalinchuk, H. Chuiko, M. Kulyk, O. Vankevych, M. Lytvyniuk, O. Herheliinyk, and others).
In 2014, with the support of the Austrian Cooperation Office, ÖAD lecturer Florian Rinesh, together with his colleagues from the department, led a project that resulted in the translation and publication in Ukrainian of essays by Alfred Polgar and Egon Friedell. In 2016–2018, students of the department participated in the “PREPUS” project together with students from the University of Innsbruck (Austria), studying the past of the urban space of Bukovina and Tyrol. In 2019, as part of the Year of Austrian Culture in Ukraine, the government of Carinthia funded the publication of student translations of short stories by Franz Porubsky and Konrad Peckelmann.
Graduates of the department work both in Ukraine and abroad: Petro Rykhlo (DSc, Prof., translator, director of the Austrian Library in Chernivtsi), Maria Ivanitska (DSc, Prof., head of the Department of German Philology at Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv), Maria Trachivska (DSc, head of the Department of Foreign Languages and Translation at Vasyl Stefanyk Precarpathian National University), Ruslan Ivanitskyi (PhD, Assoc. Prof., Goethe-Institut Ukraine), Ivan Yatsiuk (PhD, Assoc. Prof., head of German Philology and German Language Teaching Methodology at Ternopil Volodymyr Hnatiuk National Pedagogical University), Tetiana Hryhoriichuk (Dr. habil. T. Kloubert, University of Augsburg).
History of the specialty “German-Ukrainian Translation and Translation from The Second Foreign Language”
By the decision of the Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine in 2006, Yuriy Fedkovych Chernivtsi National University received the right to train bachelors in specialty 0305 Philology, 7.030507 Translation (field of knowledge 0203 “Humanities”). The first graduation in the specialty took place in 2008.
The educational program “German-Ukrainian Translation and Translation from a Second Foreign Language” in specialty 035 Philology, 035.043 “Philology (Germanic Languages and Literatures (including Translation), first foreign language – German)” was introduced on 03.09.2018 and is updated annually based on regular surveys of stakeholders, lecturers, and students.
Each semester, 2–3 meetings are held with stakeholders and practicing translators, who inform students about the requirements of the translation services market, introduce them to current trends in translation studies, the specifics of legal, literary, technical, specialized, and medical translation, as well as oral translation (both simultaneous and consecutive).
The disciplines of German-Ukrainian translation are taught by: Larysa Oleksyshyna (head of the translation section), Kathi Brunner, Antonina Korol, Halyna Senyk, Liudmyla Tomniuk, Mykola Zapolovskyi, Olha Kravchuk, Karina Unhuryan, and Iliana Polishchuk.
The main emphasis in teaching translation disciplines is on the communicative functional approach to translation in accordance with the concepts of Christiane Nord, who personally conducted two seminars on translation teaching in Chernivtsi (in 2015 and 2019).
From 2016 to 2018, lecturers of the department, led by DAAD lecturer Kathi Brunner, participated in a pilot international project that also involved lecturers of German-Ukrainian translation from Igor Sikorsky Kyiv Polytechnic Institute, Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv, V.N. Karazin Kharkiv National University, and National Pedagogical Dragomanov University. The aim of the project was to develop unique teaching materials for translation classes based on the progression of translation competencies. This innovative approach has ensured prize-winning places for students of our specialty at the All-Ukrainian Student Competition in German-Ukrainian Translation for many years. Among the winners are Marko Kulyk, Halyna Chuiko, Oksana Herheliinyk, Oleksandra Vankevych, and Maryna Lytvyniuk.