Berlin: Exhibition „Vuk and the Germans“ opened at the University of Hamburg
The exhibition, organised by „Vukova zadužbina“ at the initiative of Ambassador of the Republic of Serbia to the Federal Republic of Germany Snežana Janković, under the auspices of the Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Serbia, is a kind of testimony about the cooperation of Vuk Stefanović Karadžić with famous Germans such as Goethe, Schiller, Grimm brothers and others, as well as about the time that the reformer of the Serbian language spent in Germany.
Prof. Robert Hodel PhD, Director of the Institute of Slavic Studies at the University of Hamburg, who pointed out the importance of the translation opus of Goethe, Jacob Grimm and the entire constellation of translators after them for familiarising the German and European public with Serbian and South Slavic folk literature, addressed the attendees at the opening ceremony.
Ambassador of the Republic of Serbia to the Federal Republic of Germany Snežana Janković pointed out that Vuk Karadžić's cooperation with the great men of German culture resulted in the spiritual and cultural permeation of the two peoples, enriching the German cultural space with interest in Serbian folk literature.
She said that the Embassy of Serbia in Berlin and „Vukova zadužbina“ wanted to acquaint the German and Serbian audiences with the fact that under the sediments of history and difficult moments which occasionally marked Serbia–Germany relations, there was such a treasure of mutual understanding, appreciation and wishes to get to know each other better.
Prof. Boško Suvajdžić, PhD, one of the co-authors of the exhibition and President of the Board of Directors of „Vukova zadužbina“ addressed the audience. After acquainting the attendees with the process of creating the exhibition, prof. Suvajdžić took the audience through the most important places, characters and events that marked Vuk Karadžić's collaboration with the German intellectual elite of the 19th century. Prof. Suvajdžić emphasised that Vuk's cooperation with German writers, philosophers and historians of that era bore fruit even generations later, creating the first basis for fruitful translation work and familiarising the German public with Serbian literature.
Jasmina Mitrović Marić, Ambassador of the Republic of Serbia to the Kingdom of Denmark, was also a guest at the exhibition opening and she introduced the audience to Vuk's contacts with Danish writers of that era, illustrating the influence and reach of Vuk's work among the intellectual elite of Europe at the time.
The opening of the exhibition was attended by professors and students of Slavic studies at the University of Hamburg, representatives of German cultural and educational institutions, Olga Elermajer Životić Phd, a prominent Slavic scholar and retired assistant professor at the University of Hamburg, and Consul General in Hamburg Nataša Rašević, prof. Nadežda Basara PhD, representatives of the „Nikola Tesla“ and „Mladost“ societies from Hamburg, the Serbian Cultural Centre from Bremen, priests from the church municipality in Hamburg, teachers of the Serbian language supplementary school from Hamburg and Bremen and many others.
The opening of the exhibition in Hamburg was supported by the German Southeast Europe Society (Südosteuropa - Gesellschaft).
The exhibition will also be shown in other cultural and university centres in Germany such as Berlin, Jena, Halle and others.