List of signatories

List of medievalists, German and other, who signed the letter of protest (newest on top)

160. Michael Shields, M.A. (National University of Ireland, Galway)
159. Prof. Susan S. Morrison (Texas State University – San Marcos)
158. Prof. Wendy Marie Hoofnagle (University of Northern Iowa)
157. Prof. Megan McLaughlin (University of Illinois)
156. Prof. Anita Obermeier (University of New Mexico)
155. Dr. Alice Shields (New York)
154. Prof. Diane Wolfthal (David and Caroline Minter Chair in the Humanities, Rice University)
153. Prof. Virginia Blanton (President, Society for Medieval Feminist Scholarship)
152. George Ferzoco (Research Fellow in Medieval Religious Culture, University of Bristol, International Medieval Sermon Studies Society)
151. Dr Helen Webster (University of East Anglia)
150. Prof. David Ganz (Emeritus Professor of Palaeography, King’s College London)
149. Prof. Karl A. Zaenker (University of British Columbia, Vancouver)
148. Prof. Dr. Manfred Eikelmann (Universitaet Bochum)
147. Prof. Dr. Mathias Herweg (Institut fuer Literaturwissenschaft Karlsruhe)
146. Dr. Christoph Mackert (Handschriftenzentrum der Universitaetsbibliothek Leipzig)
145. Prof. Dr. Frank Fuerbeth (Universitaet Bochum)
144. Dr. Martin Baisch (FU Berlin)
143. Dr. Regina Toepfer (Universitaet Frankfurt)
142. Prof. Dr. Helmut Brall-Tuchel (Universitaet Duesseldorf)
141. Prof. Dr. Thomas Bein (Universitaet Aachen)
140. Prof. Dr. Claudia Brinker-von der Heyde (Pro-Vice Chancellor Universitaet Kassel)
139. Dr. Sandra Linden (Universitaet Tuebingen)
138. Prof. Dr. Sieglinde Hartmann (Vorsitzende Oswald von Wolkenstein-Gesellschaft)
137. Phil. Dr. Alvaro Alfredo Braganca Junior (Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro)
136. Prof. Dr. Ricarda Bauschke (Universitaet Duesseldorf)
135. Prof. Dr. Peter Strohschneider (LMU Muenchen, Vorsitzender des Wissenschaftsrates [Council of Sciences and Humanities])
134. Prof. Dr. Peter Andersen (Universite de Strasbourg)
133. Dr. Nicola Zotz (Universitaet Wien)
132. Prof. Dr. Susanne Hafner (Fordham University)
131. Dr Stephen Mossman (University of Manchester)
130. Prof. Dr. Franz Fuchs (Universitaet Wuerzburg, Vorsitzender der Pirckheimer-Gesellschaft)
129. Prof. Dr. Christian Domenig (Universitaet Klagenfurt)
128. Prof. Dr. Elisabeth Lienert (Universitaet Bremen)
127. Dr Martin Jones (King’s College London)
126. Dr. Carsten Kottmann (Tuebingen)
125. Dr. Renate Decke-Cornill (Staats- und Universitaetsbibliothek Bremen)
124. Prof. Dr. Wolfgang Haubrichs (Universitaet des Saarlandes)
123. Ulrich Barton, M.A. (Universitaet Tuebingen)
122. Prof. Dr. Markus J. Wenninger (Universitaet Klagenfurt)
121. Dr. Friedel Helga Roolfs (LWL Muenster)
120. Prof. Winder McConnell (University of California)
119. Prof. Dr. Nine Miedema (Universitaet Duisburg-Essen)
118. Prof. Dr. Juergen Kuehnel (Universitaet Siegen)
117. Dr. Barbara Fleith (Universite Lausanne/Geneve)
116. Dr. Pamela Kalning (Universitaetsbibliothek Heidelberg)
115. Prof. Dr. Dietrich Huschenbett (Universitaet Wuerzburg)
114. Prof. Dr. Monika Schausten (Universitaet Siegen)
113. Prof. Robert K. Weninger (King’s College London)
112. Prof. T. J. Reed (Oxford)
111. Prof. Dr. Ernst Hellgardt (LMU Muenchen)
110. Lydia Bichel (Studentin Universitaet Stuttgart)
109. Prof. Dr. Klaus Ridder (Universitaet Tuebingen)
108. PD Dr Heike Sahm (Universitaet Siegen)
107. Prof. em. John L. Flood (University of London)
106. Dr Gary Shockey (Towson University)
105. Prof. Peter Kern (Universitaet Bonn)
104. Rike Borchers M.A. (Alumnus University of Bristol)
103. Dr Sheila Watts (Newnham College Cambridge)
102. Dr Peter Macardle (University of Bristol)

(alphabetical – 1 November 11am)
1. PD Dr. Wolfgang Achnitz (Universitaet Muenster)
2. Dr. Klaus Amann (Universitaet Innsbruck)
3. Dr Elizabeth Andersen (Newcastle University)
4. Dr Jeffrey Ashcroft (University of St Andrews)
5. Prof. Dr. Bernd Bastert (Universitaet Bochum)
6. Prof. Dr. Christa Bertelsmeier-Kierst (Universitaet Marburg)
7. Dr Bettina Bildhauer (University of St Andrews)
8. Prof. Dr. Hartmut Bleumer (Universitaet Goettingen)
9. Dr Cordula Boecking-Politis (University of St Andrews)
10. Dr. Astrid Breith (Berlin-Brandenburgische Akademie der Wissenschaften)
11. Prof. Dr. Elke Brueggen (Universitaet Bonn)
12. Prof. Dr. Horst Brunner (Universitaet Wuerzburg)
13. Dr. Nathanael Busch (Universitaet Marburg)
14. Dr Mark Chinca (Trinity College Cambridge)
15. Prof. Dr. Albrecht Classen (Arizona University)
16. Dr Sebastian Coxon (University College London)
17. Prof. Dr. Michael Dallapiazza (Universita Urbino)
18. Dr. Graeme Dunphy (Universitaet Regensburg)
19. Dr Cyril Edwards (University of Oxford)
20. Prof. Dr. Edith Feistner (Universitaet Regensburg)
21. Prof. Dr. Christoph Gerhardt (Universitaet Trier)
22. Prof. Dr. Kurt Gaertner (Universitaet Trier)
23. Prof. Dr. Annette Gerok-Reiter (Universitaet Tuebingen)
24. Prof. Dr. Thomas Gloning (Universitaet Giessen)
25. PD Dr. Romy Guenthart (Universitaet Zuerich / Konstanz)
26. Prof. Dr. John Greenfield (Universidade do Porto)
27. Prof. Nigel Harris (Birmingham University)
28. Prof. Dr. Burkhard Hasebrink (Universitaet Freiburg)
29. Prof. Dr. Claudia Haendl (Universita di Genova)
30. Dr. Dorothea Heinig (Universitaet Marburg)
31. Prof. Dr. Joachim Heinzle (Universitaet Marburg)
32. Prof. Dr. Franz-Josef Holznagel (Universitaet Rostock)
33. Prof. Dr. Christoph Huber (Universitaet Tuebingen)
34. Dr Harry Jackson (University of St Andrews)
35. Dr Tim Jackson (University College Dublin)
36. Prof. Dr. Ina Karg (Universitaet Goettingen)
37. Prof. Dr. Beate Kellner (LMU Muenchen)
38. Prof. Dr. Manfred Kern (Universitaet Salzburg)
39. Dr. Klaus Kipf (VL16, LMU Muenchen)
40. Dr. Klaus Klein (Universitaet Marburg)
41. Prof. Dr. Dorothea Klein (Universitaet Wuerzburg)
42. Prof. Dr. Fritz-Peter Knapp (Universitaet Heidelberg)
43. Prof. Dr. Susanne Koebele (Universitaet Erlangen)
44. PD Dr. Florian Kragl (Universitaet Wien)
45. Prof. Dr. Gerhard Krieger (Universitaet Trier, Praesident des Mediaevistenverbandes)
46. Prof. Henrike Laehnemann (Newcastle University)
47. Dr. Karl-Eckhard Lenk (Verden)
48. Prof. Dr. Eckart Conrad Lutz (Universitaet Freiburg/CH)
49. Prof. Jun Matsuura (University of Tokyo)
50. Dr Timothy McFarland (University College London)
51. Dr Nicola McLelland (University of Nottingham)
52. Prof. Dr. Dr. h.c. Volker Mertens (FU Berlin)
53. Prof. Dr. Matthias Meyer (Vizedekan Philologisch-Kulturwissenschaftliche Fakultaet, Universitaet Wien)
54. Prof. Dr. Victor Millet (Santiago University)
55. Prof. emeritus Brian Murdoch PhD LittD FRHistS (Stirling University)
56. Prof. Dr. Jan-Dirk Mueller (LMU Muenchen)
57. Dr. Ralf G. Paesler (Universitaet Marburg)
58. Prof. Nigel F. Palmer (St. Edmund Hall Oxford)
59. Prof. Rene Perennec (Universite Francois Rabelais, Tours, France)
60. PD Dr. Jens Pfeiffer (Universitaet Kiel)
61. Dr. Ralf Plate (Mittelhochdeutsches Woerterbuch, Akademie Mainz)
62. Dr. Christine Putzo (Universitaet Fribourg)
63. Prof. em. Silvia Ranawake (Queen Mary London)
64. Dr. Bjoern Reich (Universitaet Goettingen)
65. Dr. Susanne Reichlin (Universitaet Zuerich)
66. Dr Silvia Reuvekamp (Universitaet Duesseldorf)
67. Prof. Dr. Berta Raposo Fernandez (Universitat de Valencia)
68. Prof. Dr. Klaus Ridder (Universitaet Tuebingen)
69. Prof. Dr. Werner Roecke (Humboldt-Universitaet Berlin)
70. Dr Sabine Rolle (Edinburgh University)
71. PD Dr. Michael Rupp (Universitaet Wuerzburg)
72. Christoph Schanze M.A. (Universitaet Giessen)
73. Prof. Dr. Sabine Schmolinsky (Universitaet Erfurt)
74. Prof. Dr. Ruediger Schnell (Universitaet Basel)
75. Dr. Wolfram Schneider-Lastin (Universitaet Zuerich)
76. PD Dr. Martin Schubert (Berlin-Brandenburgische Akademie der Wissenschaften)
77. Prof. Dr. Meinolf Schumacher (Universitaet Bielefeld)
78. Prof. em. Frank Shaw (Bristol University)
79. Dr Maria Sherwood-Smith (Netherlands)
80. Dr. Stefan Seeber (Universitaet Freiburg)
81. Prof. Dr. Max Siller (Universitaet Innsbruck)
82. Romy Steiger, M.A. (Universitaet Chemnitz)
83. Prof. Dr. Markus Stock (Toronto University)
84. Prof. Dr. Uta Stoermer-Caysa (Universitaet Mainz)
85. Prof. Dr. Michael Stolz (Universitaet Bern)
86. Dr Almut Suerbaum (Somerville College Oxford)
87. Dr Neill Thomas (University of Durham)
88. Tina Terrahe, M.A. (Universitaet Marburg)
89. Prof. Annette Volfing (Oriel College Oxford)
90. Prof. Konrad Vollmann (Universitaet Muenchen)
91. Dr. Gisela Vollmann-Profe (Kathol. Univ. Eichstaett)
92. Dr. Bettina Wagner (Bayerische Staatsbibliothek Muenchen)
93. Prof. em. David Wells (Birckbeck College London)
94. Prof. Dr. Rene Wetzel (Universite de Geneve)
95. Prof. em. Roy Wisbey (King’s College London)
96. Prof. Dr. Gerhard Wolf (Universitaet Bayreuth)
97. Prof. Dr. Juergen Wolf (Universitaet Marburg)
98. Wolfram von Eschenbach-Gesellschaft
99. Prof. em. David Yeandle (King’s College London)
100. Dr Chris Young (Pembroke College Cambridge)
101. Prof. Dr. Hans-Joachim Ziegeler (Universitaet Koeln)

https://blogs.ncl.ac.uk/bl…er_medievalists

Letter by the Society for Medieval Feminist Scholarship

As President of the Society for Medieval Feminist Scholarship, I write in support of Dr. Anne Simon and ask that you reconsider the proposal to make redundant Dr. Simon’s position as Senior Lecturer in the Department of German. The international out-cry thus far speaks to the caliber of Dr. Simon’s work, even as the upset of students and colleagues demonstrate her many contributions to the University of Bristol. Foremost, in co-founding the Center for Medieval Studies, Dr. Simon has done us all a great service. CMS has a valued reputation among scholars world-wide, in no small part because of its investment in international exchange. As one indication of its position as a medieval center, CMS will host the International Arthurian Society conference in late July. Clearly, the vitality of this center is a result of the energies of its faculty and the engagement of its students. The Faculty of Arts, moreover, have indicated that the study of Medieval Cultures is one of five themes selected as research priorities for the next five years. It is hard, then, to understand how one could consider redundant a researcher and teacher who has contributed so much to the success of CMS and to the study of medieval cultures at Bristol. Dr. Simon’s dedication to teaching courses that support CMS and her organization of study abroad trips for students are but two illustrations of her investment in the growth of medieval studies at Bristol. This investment is clearly a sound one, as the many students who have championed Dr. Simon’s case have stressed. Second, that the Department of German could opt to focus on modem Germany alone is staggering. It would be the equivalent of saying that there is no need to study medieval or ancient Britain, no need to think about life in England before the Reformation. Yet, we value historical inquiry for the insights it provides both about the past and about the present, even as we need them to shape our future. Surely historical German studies are vital to the present and future of the European collective and the place of the UK within it? After all, the history of Anglo-Saxon England is tied directly to the history of Germany. The logic of the decision to make Dr. Simon’s position redundant, therefore, is not apparent. Many have wondered if the decision is because of Dr. Simon’s research on women and gender studies. This conclusion hardly seems possible, given the value of social history in contemporary humanist studies. The knowledge gained because we now interrogate the past and its structures of power not only improves our understanding of pre-modern societies but also allows us to trace the continuities and discontinuities to the present. A second conclusion of the proposal to terminate Dr. Simon is that administrators at the University of Bristol do not support the promotion of female researchers or scholars who work in women’s and gender studies. Indeed, an examination of the scholars in the Faculty of Arts (as shown on your campus web pages) illustrates that only 15% of the full professors are female, a disproportionate representation. Of the five, only one produces scholarship regularly on women and gender. It is deeply troubling to think that an institution as prominent as the University of Bristol might be actively working against the advancement of women in the professoriate. To the outsider, the targeting of Dr. Simon’s position suggests a decided bias against women and against the study of women and gender. On behalf of the Society for Medieval Feminist Scholarship, I urge you to reconsider this decision and avoid the conclusions such an action provokes. There is far more to be gained by keeping Dr. Simon on the faculty and supporting her work, even as you reward her for her productive service as a researcher and teacher.
Yours, Virginia Blanton
Associate Chair, Department of English
President, Society for Medieval Feminist Scholarship
Department of English, CH 106
University of Missouri-Kansas City
5100 Rockhill Road
Kansas City, MO 64110

http://hosted.lib.uiowa.edu/smfs/mff/history.html

THES Artikel

Liebe Kolleginnen und Kollegen,

heute ist endlich der schon laenger erwartete Artikel des Higher Education Korrespondenten des THES erschienen, der kritisch die Situation in Bristol beleuchtet und auch gerade auf den Protest der deutschen Mediaevistik hinweist; online unter dem link, aber ich kopiere auch den vollen Text hier.

With a scholar of German studies under siege, medievalists mobilise
2 December 2010
By Simon Baker
Bristol’s plan to cut post would harm UK expertise, warn colleagues worldwide. Simon Baker reports
Dozens of scholars in medieval German studies are running an international campaign of support for a University of Bristol academic threatened with redundancy.
After 18 years of service, Anne Simon, a specialist in medieval and early modern German literature, has been told that her post is at risk as the university disinvests in the field.
Fellow medievalists from across the world have flooded Bristol with letters and emails criticising the decision, which, they say, will severely undermine study of the subject.
Students have also joined the protest, and there is anger over claims – denied by the university – that academics have been warned not to speak out.
Elizabeth Andersen, a senior lecturer in German studies at Newcastle University, said there had been an “overwhelming response” from medievalists, particularly those who know Dr Simon through a biannual Anglo-German colloquium.
Noting that Dr Simon was “highly regarded” for her research and dedication to teaching, she said that specialists in German literature could not understand why Bristol was cutting back in an area in which it was held in “high esteem”.
The university has a renowned Centre for Medieval Studies – which Dr Simon co-founded – and its work would suffer as a result, Dr Andersen said. Bristol’s move had “touched a nerve” with fellow academics, she added. “If I were in Bristol, I would be delighted that the university was held in such high esteem, but would also be distraught about what it was doing.”
About 150 scholars from across the world have signed a letter of support for Dr Simon, among them eminent figures from German, Austrian and Swiss higher education.
They include Peter Strohschneider, chairman of Germany’s Council of Science and Humanities and professor of medieval studies at the Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich.
A shrinking enclave
Henrike Lahnemann, chair of German studies at Newcastle’s School of Modern Languages, said the “vehemence” of the reaction from scholars reflected great concern about the erosion of German medieval studies in British universities.
If Dr Simon left Bristol, there would be only 11 permanent staff in seven institutions dedicated to the subject, she said.
Ian Tompkins, a fourth-year student in German at Bristol who has been supporting Dr Simon, said there was anger about where cuts were hitting while huge sums were spent on projects such as refurbishing the students’ union.
By removing its specialist teacher in medieval and early modern literature, Bristol “completely undermined” the curriculum, he said.
A Bristol spokesman said its decision was “not taken lightly”.
“This proposal, made at a time when most, if not all, universities have to cut costs, is part of a university-wide programme where most of the required savings have been secured by early retirements and voluntary severance,” he said.
“Moreover, should the proposal go ahead, then, despite protestations to the contrary, the material effect (beyond those on the individuals concerned) would be minimal.”
Bristol also plans to axe a lecturer post in the department of Hispanic, Portuguese and Latin American studies, despite advertising for a new chair.
simon.baker@tsleducation.com.

http://www.timeshigheredu…code=414458&c=1

Prof. Karl A. Zaenker (Vancouver)

The news from the University of Bristol that Prof. Anne Simon’s position as specialist for Medieval and Early German Literature and Cultural History is threatened of being abruptly terminated because of “redundancy” has also caused alarm among her former colleagues and academic friends in Canada. If it were not so grievous both for Dr Simon and her students, it could be seen, from the outside, as another sequel in David Lodge’s satires on university life in his home country. Dr Simon is one of the few British scholars of early German Studies whose work is also well known to North American scholars. Since her earlier graduate studies at the University of British Columbia, notably under the renowned British-Canadian medievalist Michael S. Batts, Dr Simon went on to postgraduate studies and further academic work in the UK and in Germany. She kept up her professional contacts with her North American colleagues, gave lectures at conferences in Canada and the United States, initiated an extended visit by Canadian scholar Prof. Marketa Goetz-Stankiewicz in 2009, and generally furthered the critical study of earlier German and European cultural history in the Anglo-American world. Looking at the testimonies from Dr Simon’s distinguished British and European colleagues on the website in her support one becomes overwhelmed by a feeling of dismay at the short-sightedness of this administrative decision. We can only hope and fervently wish that the Dean of Arts and the administration of the University of Bristol at large will pay heed to the words of Prof. Silvia Ranawake on this website: “The loss of the Medieval/Early Modern expert will make it impossible for the Department of German to offer a credible well-balanced programme of German Studies that will be up to the standards normally associated with an internationally recognized university.” By substituting the subjunctive form “would” for the indicative “will” in the above statement the University of Bristol could be given the chance to correct its (in my view) misguided decision, continue the highly successful premodern studies component of its German Studies division, and fully reinstate and confirm Dr Simon in her position.

Karl A. Zaenker, Assoc. Professor Emeritus
Department of Central, Eastern and Northern European Studies (CENES)
The University of British Columbia
Vancouver, B.C. Canada
November 28, 2010

Dr Cyril Edwards (University of Oxford)

I have known Dr Anne Simon for some two decades. Before she was appointed at Bristol in 1992, she was my research assistant in the University of London on the Walther von der Vogelweide project. I valued her work as a caring and conscientious tutor when I was Examiner in Bristol (1992-1994). Subsequently I have met her at conferences and been impressed by her papers. She is now a scholar of international repute, as is evident from the e-mails you have received from my German, Austrian and Swiss colleagues. She has diversified her research and teaching, working now primarily in the early modern period. She was also much respected as a Head of Department at Bristol.

Medieval and Early Modern studies have long been one of the strengths of Bristol’s German Department (as of other departments). I was fortunate enough to hear Professor August Closs give a paper on Gottfried’s Tristan, shortly before his death. The tradition has been continued by, among others, Professor Frank Shaw. To abolish the teaching of the first thousand years of German literature is, as one of my German colleagues has pointed out, nonsensical.

Open Letter by the Wolfram von Eschenbach Gesellschaft e.V.

Der Vorstand unserer Gesellschaft hat davon Kenntnis, dass die Universitaet Bristol ihr Studienangebot in Germanistik auf die Moderne beschraenken, also die Bereiche Mittelalter und Fruehe Neuzeit aufheben will. Als Gesellschaft der Germanistischen Mediaevistik mit ueber 400 gelehrten Mitgliedern aus aller Welt, darunter mehr als 20 aus Ihrem Land, geben wir mit diesem offenen Brief zu bedenken:

  • Die Germanistische Mediaevistik (oder Germanische Philologie) ist der historische Kernbereich und die Basis der Germanistik als wissenschaftliche Disziplin. Sie war das Arbeitsgebiet der Brueder Grimm und Karl Lachmanns, aus dem sich die neuere Literatur- und Sprachwissenschaft als Spezialgebiete entwickelt haben.
  • Die Germanistische Mediaevistik versteht sich seit ihren Anfaengen als weitgefasste Wissenschaft von der Geschichte der deutschen Sprache und aller in ihr verfassten Texte unter Beruecksichtigung der historischen und kulturellen Kontexte. Das Spektrum ihrer Interessen reicht vom Recht ueber die Fachliteratur und die Dichtung zu religioesen und philosophischen Texten. In keinem anderen Bereich der Germanistik lernt man in vergleichbarer Weise in kulturellen Zusammenhaengen, also vernetzt zu denken.
  • Die Germanistische Mediaevistik ist heute eine kulturwissenschaftlich interessierte, interdisziplinaer ausgerichtete, aber auf philologischer und historischer Forschung basierende Wissenschaft. Wo immer mediaevistische Faecher in Instituten, Projekten und Gesellschaften kooperieren, ist die Germanistische Mediaevistik beteiligt, sehr oft leitend.
  • Vertreter der Germanistischen Mediaevistik haben daher seit jeher in weit ueberproportionalem Umfang Spitzenpositionen in Universitaetsleitungen, Wissenschaftsverwaltung und Forschungsfoerderung besetzt, der gegenwaertige Praesident des Deutschen Wissenschaftsrates ist nur ein prominentes Beispiel.
  • Im Rahmen des Studienfachs Germanistik garantiert die Mediaevistik die historische Dimension der Disziplin. Ohne sie wird die deutsche Literatur um Jahrhunderte verkuerzt, Entstehung und Vorgeschichte des Romans, der Lyrik, des Lieds, der Historiographie, des religioesen Schrifttums, der Fachliteratur und der Enzyklopaedik werden unverstaendlich – die Geschichte fast aller moderner Gattungen laesst sich nicht mehr als Ganze denken.
  • Das Studium der mittelhochdeutschen Sprache als vom heutigen Deutsch weit genug entfernte Sprachstufe erleichtert den Zugang zu historisch weniger tiefliegenden Schichten des Deutschen. Die Sprache Luthers, aber auch die Sprache Goethes zu verstehen, setzt die Kenntnis der vorausgehenden Entwicklung der deutschen Sprache voraus.
  • Die Mediaevistik ermoeglicht die Begegnung mit einer zunaechst ganz fremden Stufe der eigenen Kultur, einer Zeit vor dem Buch und vor verbreiteter Lesefaehigkeit. Verstehen setzt hier das Erlernen vielfaeltiger Techniken der UEbertragung voraus, weit ueber das sprachliche UEbersetzen hinaus. Das Erlernen dieser Techniken schaerft den Blick fuer historisch begruendete kulturelle Differenzen.
  • Nach dem grossflaechigen Einbruch der Lateinkenntnisse sind die leichter erlernbaren mittelalterlichen Volkssprachen zugleich der einzige authentische Zugang zu der UEberlieferung des Mittelalters und der Fruehen Neuzeit. Den Mittelalterphilologien kommt daher eine wachsende Bedeutung zu.
  • Wo man glaubt, auf den Beitrag der Mediaevistik verzichten zu koennen, gibt man den Anspruch auf ein ernst zu nehmendes universitaeres Studium im Bereich der Germanistik auf. Das Fach wird zur auf den Spracherwerb konzentrierten Fremdsprachendisziplin, verliert seinen Platz im interuniversitaeren und internationalen wissenschaftlichen Austausch, der Wechsel der Studierenden an andere Universitaeten wird erschwert.

Die britische Germanistik ist bereits zu klein, um sich weitere Eingriffe in die noch bestehende Substanz leisten zu koennen – die Entscheidung Ihrer Universitaet ist daher von nationaler und internationaler Tragweite.
Wir bitten Sie daher dringend, Ihre Entscheidung zu ueberdenken: Der oekonomisch begruendete, spontane Abbau historischer Disziplinen wuerde sehr rasch zu einer Schaedigung der Geisteswissenschaften fuehren, die nicht mehr gut zu machen ist. Die Verflachung des historischen Bewusstseins trifft den Kern der abendlaendischen Identitaet zu einem Zeitpunkt, da die Kenntnis der eigenen Vergangenheit als Grundlage der interkulturellen Verstaendigung dringend notwendig ist. Dieser Abbau ist also politisch, nicht nur bildungspolitisch nicht zu verantworten. Principiis obsta.
Der Vorstand (Prof. Dr Prof. Dr. Eckart Conrad Lutz Universitaet Freiburg Schweiz; Prof. Dr. Klaus Ridder Universitaet Tuebingen; Prof. Dr. Susanne Koebele Universitaet Erlangen

Prof. Dr. Ingrid Bennewitz (Universitaet Bamberg)

mit grosser Bestuerzung habe ich von der “compulsory redundancy” von Dr. Anne Simon erfahren. Eine derart renommierte Mediaevistin zu entlassen mit dem Ziel, die Mediaevistik und fruehe Neuzeit abzubauen, setzt voellig falsche Signale.
Gerade der geplante Artuskongress von Professor Dietl (Universitaet Giessen) in Bristol, an dem auch Mitarbeiter meines Lehrstuhl teilnehmen werden, zeigt die Relevanz des Mittelalters und seine Vernetzung mit Ihrer renommierten Universitaet in aller Deutlichkeit. Auch die von Dr. Simon im Jahre 2006 abgehaltene interdisziplinaere Konferenz ueber Medea: Mutations and Permutations of A Myth wurde international registriert. Ausserdem hat Frau Dr. Simon als Mitbegruenderin des Centre for Medieval Studies zur Interdisziplinaritaet beigetragen, die gerade fuer so viele Wissenschaftler und Studierende von grossem Interesse ist.
Die Forschungsleistung von Dr. Anne Simon baut Bruecken zur Neuzeit, die ohne ihre Wurzeln im Mittelalter und in der Fruehen Neuzeit nicht begreifbar gemacht werden koennen. Dr. Simon hat im Bereich der Fruehen Neuzeit einschlaegige Pionierarbeit geleistet. Ihre 1998 veroeffentlichte Arbeit zu Sigmund Feyerabend’s Das Reyssbuch dess heyligen Lands. A Study in Printing and Literary History. Wissensliteratur im Mittelalter 32 (Wiesbaden: Reichert) hat internationales Aufsehen erregt und wird nach wie vor als Grundlagenwerk genutzt. Weitere bahnbrechende Forschungen versammelt der von ihr mit herausgegebene Band aus dem Jahre 1998: Autor und Autorschaft im Mittelalter. Kolloquium Meissen 1995 ( = Proceedings of the Fourteenth Anglo-German Medieval Colloquium) Ed. Elizabeth Andersen, Jens Haustein, Anne Simon and Peter Strohschneider (Tuebingen: Niemeyer). Ich selbst konnte von ihren zahlreichen Arbeiten zum ‘Ritter vom Turn’ (2001, 1999) sehr fruchtbar profitieren. Ihre einschlaegigen Artikel werden gleichermassen in der Germanistischen Mediaevistik viel rezipiert. Ich nenne nur `Gotterfahrung oder Welterfahrung: das Erlebnis des Reisens in Pilgerberichten des fuenfzehnten Jahrhunderts’. In: Reisen und Welterfahrung in der deutschen Literatur des Mittelalters. Vortraege des XI. Anglo-deutschen Colloquiums 11. – 15. September 1989 Universitaet Liverpool. Ed. Dietrich Huschenbett & John Margetts. Wuerzburger Beitraege zur deutschen Philologie 7 (Wuerzburg: Koenigshausen & Neumann, 1991), pp. 173-814.
Ihre Studien zu Judentum und Islam sind gerade jetzt brandaktuell. Mit ihren Lehreinheiten „Engaging with the Other: Germany, Judaism and Islam leistet sie einen Beitrag, die juengste Vergangenheit in groessere Bezuege zu stellen.
Sehr geehrter Herr Dekan, gerade Ihnen als Professor fuer Latinistik liegen die aelteren Sprachen und Sprachstufen am Herzen. Ich bitte Sie daher aufrichtig, Ihre Entscheidung noch einmal zu ueberdenken.

Prof. Dr. Elisabeth Lienert (Universitaet Bremen)

mit tiefer Bestuerzung nehme ich die Entlassung von Frau Dr. Anne Simon und die beabsichtigte Schliessung der germanistischen Mediaevistik in Bristol zur Kenntnis. Trotz aller Sparzwaenge, unter denen die britischen Universitaeten derzeit anscheinend in besonderem Masse leiden, kann eine solche Entscheidung in der internationalen Germanistik nur auf Unverstaendnis stoßen, dies insbesondere angesichts der gerade auch international wahrgenommenen Forschungsleistungen von Anne Simon in wesentlichen Bereichen der Mediaevistik- und Fruehneuzeitforschung.
Mit Nachdruck schliesse ich mich daher dem Protest an.

Prof. Silvia Ranawake (Professor Em. of German, Queen Mary London)

I am writing to urge you and your colleagues to reconsider the recently announced redundancy of my colleague and fellow researcher Dr Anne Simon of the School of Modern Languages, an internationally renowned scholar in British German Studies.
I am given to understand that the decision was taken on the grounds that the reduction of German to 5 FTEs (one Professor, four lecturers), was necessary to ensure the financial viability of the Faculty, and that the least damaging way of achieving this reduction, in order to protect the future of the subject, would be to disinvest from the Medieval/Early Modern component of the subject of German.
Contrary to this view, I, together with other colleagues in German Studies, consider this action as highly damaging to the future of the subject at the University of Bristol on the following grounds.
The loss of the Medieval/Early Modern expert will make it impossible for the Department of German to offer a credible well-balanced programme of German Studies that will be up to the standards normally associated with an internationally recognized university. The periodisation of literature and culture on which the decision appears to be based, no longer provides the basis for today’s teaching and research. The most stimulating courses and the best of cutting-edge research favour thematic and interdisciplinary approaches crossing the boundaries of cultures and periods. They draw heavily on the expertise of scholars such as Dr Simon with an intimate knowledge of the history of the German language, literature and culture. Her research and teaching in the areas of, for example, travel literature, city culture, text and illustration, gender studies, religion and literature are prime examples. Losing this expertise will not only have serious repercussions for the academic viability of the subject of German at Bristol, but will also diminish the Faculty’s potential to offer up-to-date interdisciplinary teaching, both at undergraduate and postgraduate level.
I hope that you and your colleagues will give these considerations some thought and reconsider your decision in the interests of the subject, the Faculty and the University of Bristol.

Dr Martin Jones (King’s College London, on behalf of organsiers of the last Anglo-German Colloquium)

This is an extract from a mail sent on behalf of the organising committee of the last Anglo-German Colloquium:
“This mail is prompted by the shocking news of Dr Anne Simon’s threatened compulsory redundancy from the Department of German and comes with the urgent request that this decision be reconsidered. […] I also write on behalf Professor Dr Ricarda Bauschke of the University of Düsseldorf and Dr Sebastian Coxon, Reader in German at University College London, together with whom I organized the latest (the twenty-first) in the series of Anglo-German Colloquia on Medieval German Literature, to which Dr Simon has made signal contributions over the years. […]
Bristol has for decades been in the fortunate position of having on its German staff distinguished scholars in the medieval field who have contributed significantly to maintaining the Department’s position among an élite group of institutions which can offer the opportunity for in-depth study of German as an academic discipline. Dr Simon is the latest in the line of these scholars and by no means the least of them. Indeed, through her additional expertise in the early modern period and such fields as visual culture, not to speak of courses which she has developed in the modern period, she offers a range of teaching and possibilities for interdisciplinary collaboration which are rare in their scope.”