German Sign Language and
Communication of the Deaf
Photo: UHH/Denstorf
18 October 2024, by Pamela Sundhausen
Photo: Alexander von Meyenn / Simon Kollien
Alexander: Our friend, Wolfgang Schmidt, recently passed away. Therefore, we are in mourning. Nevertheless, in memory of him, we would like to take a look back in time and show how Wolfgang was connected to the Institute of German Sign Language. At the beginning, Wolfgang Schmidt traveled with a small group to Gallaudet University in the USA to take a look at their curriculum for interpreter training and bring it to Germany. During this trip, the name DGS was also established for the first time through Wolfgang's initial exchanges with Bernd Rehling and others. Heiko Zienert and I were added to this group. The continued lively exchange brought us many thoughts and further insights. Siegmund Prillwitz and Regina Leven joined us by chance. We continued to have in-depth and detailed discussions. All of this happened in private. Later, our research was transferred to the university (as part of the founding of the DGS Research Center). It was the first time that it was possible to teach and learn sign language not only at the VHS, but also at the university, where the first curricula for courses for DGS 1, 2, 3 etc. were developed. Without Wolfgang's contribution, this progress would have been very difficult. He contributed so many valuable ideas and thoughts. He was also the one who prepared the text for the so-called “Golden Book”, which was presented in 1985 at the congress “Signing in the Education of the Deaf”. This spread like wildfire in Germany. In the end, through further discourse, exchange and research, our Institute of German Sign Language and Communication of the Deaf was established. We owe this development to Wolfgang's immeasurable contribution. Who knows where we would be without his work. It is important to me that we keep him in special memory. Simon: I would like to pick up on this. As a member of the “next generation”, I would also like to express my deep gratitude for his important contribution. I was still young at the time. I learned about all the new findings as a child through my parents, who were in contact with the group I just mentioned. I experienced the development of DGS with respect and interest, which was very exciting for me. I actively followed how Siegmund Prillwitz, Wolfgang Schmidt and especially Heiko Zienert, with Regina Leven as interpreter, dedicated themselves to German Sign Language. It was a key experience for me to learn that DGS, which I had previously used unconsciously, is a language in its own right with a full-fledged grammar that can even be used in an academic context. I fully internalized this impressive new understanding of DGS at the time. Thanks to this development, I was able to start studying at an academic level like many other deaf people from my generation, accompanied by sign language interpreters and using DGS. This opened up access to academic education for the Deaf community in Germany. All these developments eventually led to the establishment of the Institute of German Sign Language and Communication of the Deaf, which is still a stable institution today. In fact, we owe this to the group around Wolfgang Schmidt, who ultimately had a significant impact and major influence on the progress of research into sign language. It hurts to say goodbye to him now. For the future, it is up to us to carry on his successes - the “relay” he bequeathed to us - into a bright future. We will always remember Wolfgang and express our deepest gratitude to him.