International Summer School: German Language and Culture

Programme

The participants of the Summer School cheering in front of the old building of the TU Braunschweig.

Our Summer School of German Language and Culture has a long tradition: Every year we offer 4 to 6-week intensive courses in German language and culture during the semester break. In these courses you will learn German in small groups at four different language levels. You will have 6 lessons on each of the five weekdays, during which you will improve your grammar, pronunciation and vocabulary at the language levels A1 to C1 (GER). You will also learn a lot about German culture and regional studies.

The lessons take place in presence at TU Braunschweig and are complemented by a varied social and excursion programme: We visit regional companies and local museums as well as historical cities. We visit institutes of TU Braunschweig and learn about innovative research projects. Through day trips on the weekends we also get to know some exciting German cities and learn more about the German culture. Joint afternoons and evenings as well as enough free time for exploring the region on your own complete our program.

The course is aimed at students and young professionals from all over the world who want to use the semester break to improve their German. It is particularly suitable for students from our partner universities who are planning to study at TU Braunschweig in the following semester.

To give you a good idea of our Summer Schools, you can find the flyer for the 2025 programme as well as the booklets from last year’s Summer Schools here. The booklets contain detailed information about the German courses as well as the social and excursion programme and serve as a good example for what Summer School is going to be like for you:

Download booklet (June/July 2024) Download booklet (September 2024)Flyer: 2025 programme

Experiences of our participants

Four participants of the Summer School 2023 sit on the university square in front of the old building.

Podcast

You can find out more about the Summer School for German Language and Culture in four podcast episodes.

To the Podcast

A Summer School participant stands in front of a section of the former Berlin Wall.

"This image is a depiction of my facial expression and body language throughout the TU-Braunschweig Summer School experience. My smile has yet to disappear from my face and my laugh has yet to be muted."

Azola Fumba (Participant Summer School 2022)

Three Summer School participants laugh as they leave the slides at the Autostadt Wolfsburg.

"My favorite part of summer school is the relationships I have gained as well as the experiences I have shared with the people I have met along the way. We have had so much fun learning German together through group exercises and playing games."

Payton Johnson (Participant Summer School 2022)

Dates

Time period	30 June – 25 July 2025
Registration deadline	30 April 2025
Event form	In presence
Language of instruction	German
Participation fee	900€
Target group	Students and prospective students of all fields of study, young researchers and professionals students from partner universities
Level	A1, A2, B1/B2
Requirements	No previous knowledge of the German language required, at least 18 years old
Workload	120 teaching hours (45 minutes each)
Credits	Graded certificate, 6 ECTS credits

Time period	30 June – 08 August 2025
Registration deadline	30 April 2025
Event form	In presence
Language of instruction	German
Participation fee	1325€
Target group	Students and prospective students of all fields of study, young researchers and professionals students from partner universities
Level	A1, A2, B1/B2
Requirements	no previous knowledge of the German language required, at least 18 years old
Workload	180 teaching hours (45 minutes each)
Credits	Graded certificate, Graded certificate, 9 ECTS; up to 12 ECTS credits can be achieved through additional assignments

Time period	01 September – 30 September 2025
Registration deadline	15 July 2025
Event form	In presence
Language of instruction	German
Participation fee	900€
Target group	International students who will be studying at TU Braunschweig from the winter semester 2025/26 and students from our partner universities as well as students and prospective students from all disciplines, young academics and young professionals
Level	A1, A2, B1/B2
Requirements	No previous knowledge of the German language required, at least 18 years old
Workload	120 teaching hours (45 minutes each)
Credits	Graded certificate, 6 ECTS credits

Important information

1. Fill in the registration form

Thank you for your interest in the International Summer Course in German Language and Culture. Please fill out the following registration form:

Registration form Summer School 2025

2. Send documents

By registering, you confirm that you are taking out health and liability insurance for the duration of the course.

Please send your application by e-mail:
summerschool(at)tu-braunschweig.de

Upon receipt of your registration we will send you a confirmation with all further information.

The course fee is 890,00€ or 1.335,00€ (depending on the course). This fee includes the cost of tuition and course materials as well as the social and excursion programme.

A few days after you submit your registration, you will receive a confirmation letter. To complete your registration, we kindly ask you to transfer the full course fee within two weeks after receipt of the letter and to send us a mail with a proof of payment to summerschool(at)tu-braunschweig.de. We will provide you with all necessary transfer details as well as your personal payment deadline in the confirmation letter.

If you cancel your registration up to six weeks before the start of the course, you will receive a full refund (deducting bank transfer costs). In case you cancel your registration up to two weeks before the start of the course, we will retain an additional administration fee of 200 €. If you cancel less than two weeks before the start of the course, a refund of the course fees is unfortunately no longer possible.

Summer School 30 June – 08 August 2025

Students from our partner universities are eligible to apply for a scholarship for our International Summer School for German Language and Culture from June to August 2025. The scholarship covers the tuition and the teaching material as well as the costs for the social and excursion program.

To apply for a tuition waiver please send the following documents to summerschool(at)tu-braunschweig.de until 30 April 2025:

Application form
Your CV
Motivation letter
Transcript of records of your current study program
Proof of enrollment at your university
List of German courses you have taken (if any)

Summer School 01 September – 30 September 2025

If you are currently enrolled at one of our partner universities, you have the option to apply for one of our tuition waivers for our International Summer School for German Language and Culture in September 2025. Students who receive the tuition waiver only pay the cost for the social and excursion program as well as for the teaching materials. The cost of the tuition is waived.

To apply for a tuition waiver please send the following documents to summerschool(at)tu-braunschweig.de until 15 July 2025:

Application form
Your CV
Motivation letter
Transcript of records of your current study pogramme
Proof of enrollment at your university
Information about whether you will be studying at TU Braunschweig in winter term 2025/26
List of German courses you have taken (if any)

Summer School 30 June – 08 August 2025

The Ministry of Science and Culture (MWK) of Lower Saxony provides annual funding to strengthen the relationships between Lower Saxony and its international partner regions. Since Lower Saxony and the Valencian Community signed a partnership agreement in 2024, students from the Valencian Region can apply for an accommodation scholarship for the International Summer School for German Language and Culture in 2025. Students who receive this scholarship will be offered free accommodation (host family/shared flat) for the duration of the Summer School. If you are studying at a partner university of TU Braunschweig, the accommodation scholarship can be combined with the scholarship for students from our partner universities.

To apply for a scholarship, please send the following documents to summerschool(at)tu-braunschweig.de until 30 April 2025:

Application form
Your CV
Motivation letter
Transcript of records of your current study pogramme
Proof of enrollment at your university
List of German courses you have taken (if any)

* This scholarship can only be granted to students if the MWK approves TU Braunschweig’s project application.

Summer School 30 June – 08 August 2025

The Ministry of Science and Culture (MWK) of Lower Saxony provides annual funding to strengthen the relationships between Lower Saxony and its international partner regions. If you are studying in the Eastern Cape (South Africa) or Tanzania, you can apply for a full scholarship to attend the International Summer School for German Language and Culture. This scholarship covers the tuition, teaching materials and the costs of the social and excursion programme, as well as the costs of travel to and from Braunschweig and accommodation (host family/shared flat) in Braunschweig.

To apply for a scholarship, please send the following documents to summerschool(at)tu-braunschweig.de until 28 February 2025:

Application form
Your CV
Motivation letter
Transcript of records of your current study pogramme
Proof of enrollment at your university
List of German courses you have taken (if any)

* This scholarship can only be granted to students if the MWK approves TU Braunschweig’s project application.

You stay only for the duration of the Summer School?
We can gladly help you finding a private room in a family or shared apartment for the duration of the German course. These rooms are equipped with a bed, pillow, blanket, wardrobe and usually also with bed linen as well as a workplace (table and chair). Kitchen and bathroom are usually shared with your host family or roommates. The cost for this type of accommodation is between 600 and 800 euros per month. The details of the rental contract and the house rules should be discussed directly with your landlord or landlady. If you are interested in this type of accommodation, please indicate this directly on your application form.
You want to organise your own accommodation?
Of course, you are free to organise another form of accommodation on your own (e.g. hotel, hostel, AirBnB). You will find helpful information on the following websites:

Overview of hotels in Braunschweig

Interim rent

Couchsurfing

Airbnb

Students are standing in front of a historical old car

Students are visiting the research airport

Students are standing in front of old buildings in Braunschweig

View of the river Oker and the houses behind it in beautiful sunshine.

View of Burgplatz square in Braunschweig from above.

Summer School participants will discover historic Braunschweig on a guided tour of the city.

3 participants of the Summer School take a selfie while paddling in a boat on the river Oker.

Eine Gruppe von Studierenden steht im Magniviertel in Braunschweig.

Participants of the Summer School sit in a teaching room and take notes.

Students walk through the Holocaust Memorial in Berlin.

Three students sit in a mine railway of a former mine.

Group photo in front of the Brandenburger Tor in Berlin.

Summer School participants having fun at the bowling event.

Summer School participants walk through the dune landscape in Cuxhaven.

Summer School participants examine what they have found in the Wadden Sea off Cuxhaven.

Summer School participants during a hike on the tidal flats.

A participant of the summer school laughs into the camera during the tidal flat hike.

The participants of the Summer School during a guided tour in front of the Eintracht Stadium in Braunschweig.

Support our Summer Schools

For our participants, we are looking for host families who are willing to host an international student for the duration of the Summer School. Our students come from all over the world to learn German and to get to know Braunschweig, our region and German culture. This works best when they stay with host families or in friendly shared apartments during their stay in Germany. Often, friendships for life are formed in this way.

Currently we are looking for the following periods:

Period 1: 07. - 30. March 2025
Period 2: 27. June - 27. July 2025
Period 3: 27. June - 10. August 2025
Period 4: 30. August - 01. October 2025

All information on how to become a host or host family can be found here.

The International House is looking for students of TU Braunschweig who are interested in international exchange and would like to become a buddy for the international participants of our Summer Schools for the following periods:

10. March – 28. March 2025
30. June – 25. Juliy 2025
30. Junie - 08. August 2025
01. September – 30. September 2025

All information and the registration form for the Buddy Programme can be found here

Thanks to the financial support of a large number of companies, institutions, foundations and individuals who feel a connection to the TU and would like to promote the intercultural exchange of young people across national borders, we have been able since 1992 to award a number of partial or full scholarships each year for participation in our summer courses. This enabled us to invite students who were unable to participate from their own resources - especially from Eastern European countries, but also from Southeast Asia and Africa. These highly motivated young people gave the courses a whole new quality.

Your donation is a valuable contribution to intercultural exchange.

Since then, students from all over the world have come together annually in Braunschweig. They all share a common interest in Germany, our language and our culture. These intensively experienced weeks and the lively cultural exchange have lasting positive effects on the young people.

We would like to continue this scholarship programme - with your help - this year, as many students are unable to pay the costs associated with taking part in a summer course in Germany. However, they are very interested in establishing contacts with German companies and institutions and take their role as multipliers in their home country very seriously, which is why we would be very happy to make it possible for students to participate in the course.

If you are interested, please contact Joana Zimmer (summerschool(at)tu-braunschweig.de).

We would like to take this opportunity to thank everyone whose support enables students from all over the world to participate in the International Summer Courses:

Dr.-Ing. Bernd Krone
Prof. em. Dr.-Ing. Dr.-Ing. E.h. Roland Vollmar
Prof. Dr. Robert Fechtig
Dr. rer. pol. h.c. Manfred Bodin
Prof. Dr. Dr. h.c. mult. Carl H. Hahn
Prof. Dr.-Ing. Prof. h.c. Dr.-Ing. E.h. Hans-Wolf Reinhardt