How would you like to take courses in a university that's two and a half times as old as the United States? Or explore a city that was a crucible for the movement that ended with the fall of the Berlin Wall? Or visit the church where both Bach and Mozart performed?

You could do all that and more this summer through our program in Leipzig, a city in eastern Germany that's over 1000 years old. Students will improve their German language skills and take excursions to media and cultural sights in the area.

Interested? Read on:

Hostelclub.com has a great list of things you'll simply have to see if you go to Leipzig. There's "The Jewel of Leipzig," which is the train station. Might sound mundane, but trains and train stations are something of a bigger deal in Europe than they are in America... 

The website also recommends going to Auerbach's Keller, a restaurant that's been open since 1530. Just try to wrap your mind around that... a 482 year-old restaurant. 

If you're interested in art, the New York Times tells us Leipzig is a good place to be, not only for the music but for other kinds of art as well. And this other New York Times article will tell you what to do during the day, at night, and where to eat. 

And here's a great little YouTube video showing scenes from Leipzig. Looks beautiful!

Finally, make sure to take a look at what WikiTravel has to say. As usual, you can find an enormous amount of information, from food and transportation to sights and events. 

If you have any questions, email us or stop by the J-School International Programs Office. And if you're reading this and it's not yet 4pm on Wednesday the 15th... get moving to the info session in Tucker Forum!

by Fedor Zarkhin

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This summer you can spend three weeks and a half in three different German cities, attending a photojournalism festival, intensive workshops and touring German publications and meeting photo editors. But what are the three cities you'll visit – Hannover, Hamburg and Munich – really like? What makes them so special, and what'll you do during that precious free time you'll have to explore?

Let's start with Hannover. The capital of Lower Saxony, this city is probably most famous for its Herrenhausen Gardens. They're over 300 years old, with mazes and one of Europe's highest fountains.

But the main attraction will certainly be the 2012 Lumix Festival for Young Photojournalism. There, the group of 10-12 Mizzou students that you might be a part of will get to see exhibitions and listen to lectures given by internationally known photographers, among other things. 

This is a trailer for the last photo festival in Hannover. This year's trailer isn't available in English yet, but this one has most of what you need to know. 

Let's move on to Hamburg. There, students will meet photo editors and visit newsrooms, and it's very much the right place to do it: The New York Times calls Hamburg the "media center of Germany," among other things...

"Hamburg, maritime and media center of Germany, is a city of jarring juxtapositions. The industrial waterfront heaves with rusty docks, while its center is filled with emerald parks, blue lakes and cream-colored villas. Sex workers ply their trade along the neon-lit Reeperbahn, while old-money families have made this Baroque port into Germany's richest city. And despite playing second fiddle to the cultural juggernaut that is Berlin, Hamburg breeds its own brand of the cosmopolitan cool — with a large Turkish population, gay enclaves and fashion centers — who mingle at chichi restaurants and steamy underground clubs. Where else but this high-low metropolis can you window-shop for Cartier diamond necklaces during the day and slum it with punk rockers at night?" 
– Denny Lee for the New York Times

Enough said, right? Read the full article here if you're intrigued (which you should be). Also, make sure to take a look at the New York Times Hamburg slideshow. 

And now we can move along to Munich, the last stop on the program. The New York Times (yes, we like to quote the New York Times) also has a good article on Munich, calling it "the hot spot of the moment."

And about.com has a less poetic but perhaps more practical guide to Munich, listing the top ten sights with links and pictures. Highly recommended.

So keep reading and keep looking at the pictures. But most importantly, if you're even remotely interested in going to Germany this summer... COME TO THE INFO SESSION TOMORROW! It's from 4pm-5pm in Tucker Forum, and you'll get all your questions answered because Rita Reed, the director of the program, will be there. 

See you then!

In July, the German Embassy invited 13 students from top journalism schools around the United States for a 10-day tour of the country’s media, political and industrial landscape. The Missouri School of Journalism chose Camille Phillips, Branson, Mo., and Stefan Bellm, Nixa, Mo., to represent the school in Germany.

The tour highlighted the importance of U.S.-German relations and offered the students the opportunity to meet with German politicians, tour German media outlets and develop professional contacts with both young American and German journalists.

The tour began in Munich, where students met with the international editor of Germany’s largest newspaper the Suddeutsche Zeitung. They also visited the Bavarian State Chancellery and the BMW factory, as well as touring the studios of a public youth radio station On3.

“The trip allowed us to see differences between German and American media and politics,” Bellm said. “We also learned about Germany’s commitment to renewable energy and its plan to close all its nuclear power plants by 2022.”

Phillips appreciated the differences but questioned whether American practices might better facilitate the development of online media.

“A desire to keep private news agencies competitive has led to limiting public broadcasting to using no more than one percent of their budget on online content, and prevents public broadcasting websites from archiving their work past seven days,” Phillips said. “While I can appreciate the viewpoint of private news agencies that don't have the benefit of steady funding, I'm not sure it would be worth the trade-off of limiting what my organization could do online.”

In Berlin the students visited the German Bundestag, the national parliament, where they met with a representative from the foreign affairs council. They also visited the German Federal Chancellery, the Federal Foreign Office and several media outlets. The students also visited the headquarters of Solon, a global leader in solar panel technology.

“We really wanted to give participants the opportunity to mix and mingle with like-minded people in Germany in order to let them create a network they can use after the short trip is over and that may be helpful later in their career,” said Kristina Jonek, deputy spokesperson for the German Embassy in Washington, D.C. “We therefore organized get-togethers with German journalism students and leading journalists of major news organizations.”

University of Missouri Journalism students studying abroad at Leipzig University (Germany) are doing big things. Check out the article below to learn more. 

"'Through the Looking Glass' - Media and Journalism in Germany"