100 Years of DAAD Alumni: Ralph Carl Wushke
Which DAAD program did you receive support through?
Ralph Carl Wushke: German language stipendium program (ed. today: University Summer Course Grant)
Where in Germany did you go with your DAAD funding?
R.C.W,: Schwäbisch Hall
When you think of your DAAD experience, are there any stories, memories, or reflections that come to mind?
R.C.W.: Late in the final semester of my undergraduate studies at the University of Regina, in 1974, Frau Dr Hölle, head of the German Department asked if I would be interested in applying for a DAAD summer German language stipend. It was the first time I had heard of the DAAD but I was intrigued. In due course I found myself on a charter flight full of bubbling Canadian students, to Frankfurt in late May 1974.
That summer at the Goethe Institute in Schwäbisch Hall was a watershed experience. I remember vividly the diversity of students in the program at the Goethe Institute. Tunisians, Algerians, Italians, Latin Americans, North Americans, were among my friends and classmates and to this day I have friends from the “Summer of ’74.”
The experience also profoundly deepened my appreciation of my own German heritage, as well as improving my “Regina Deutsch.” It opened my eyes to a world of culture and the post-war European context. The historic town centre of Schwäbisch Hall and a production of Bertolt Brecht’s Mutter Courage at the “Freilichtbühne” (open air stage, ed.) on the steps of the Michaeliskirche are vivid memories. Exploring the town’s medieval streets, learning about its history as a salt mine town and early adopter of the Reformation made a big impression.
I also had both a Studentrailpass and an international youth hostel pass and that made German trains and youth hostels an integral aspect of the memories of the DAAD experience.
What impact did this experience have on your career? Your life?
R.C.W.: As I was on the horns of a dilemma about my next career step, it came both as a surprise and relief that a weekend excursion to Nuremberg and the Sebalduskirche and Lorenzkirche cemented my decision to go to seminary and train to be a Lutheran pastor. Indeed I sent my letter of application to the seminary in Saskatoon from Schwäbisch Hall and got word of my acceptance while I was there.
Is there anything you wish you had known before you went to Germany?
R.C.W.: Yes, I wish I had known that no one from the Goethe Institute in Schwäbisch Hall was going to meet me at the Frankfurt Airport! It came as a shock to realize that I would be on my own for 10 days Germany before starting class. Needless to say I grew up very quickly and found my travel legs in short order.
What advice would you give a young scholar thinking of applying to a DAAD program?
R.C.W.: The experience of studying abroad, in Germany, is something to embrace. Anticipate having your horizons broadened in unexpected ways.
