Another German

The students filing into Bernd Hambüchen's class at the night school in southern Cologne tonight are a particularly mixed bunch. There are older ladies, serious businessmen and quirky students.

Probably the only thing this group of 22 students has in common is their love of Kölsch. And we're not talking about the famous beer. Kölsch is also the name of the dialect spoken here in the western German city of Cologne. The students in tonight's class come from the city and the surrounding region.

Back to the roots

Bernd Hambüchen is now retired and has been teaching for two years at the Academy for the Cologne Language (known in dialect as the "Akademie för uns kölsche Sproch"). Prior to that, he worked in Cologne for years and says that anyone can learn a dialect.

"For Kölsch, you have to pronounce a good "L," a good "ääääi," and also need to get the "sch" and "ch" a bit mixed up," he explains. Hambüchen says most of his students learn Kölsch in order to be understood better in their city.

The head of the Academy for the Cologne Language, Hans-Georg Bögner, has another theory: In the age of globalization, more and more people are searching for a connection to their roots, he says, and dialect is the best way to achieve that.

The academy teaches more than 300 students a year - it's even possible to do a master's degree there. In the organization's headquarters, there is a library with over 16,000 books on Cologne and its local dialect, including some very rare volumes.

Why learn Kölsch?

The students themselves have mainly practical reasons for attending the course. Petra Becker is 58 years old and has lived all her life in Cologne. When she was younger, her father spoke to her in the local dialect and it's a skill she's retained, too. She's here to learn the written grammar of Kölsch, so that she can write it perfectly.

Twenty-five-year-old Linda Gralla is one of the youngest in the class. She says that she's learning Kölsch in order to speak with her grandfather, but also for another reason: "When I am traveling in Germany, I want people to know that I am from the Rhine area."

Dialect has always helped people form their identity, says Georg Cornelissen, a language expert from the local cultural institute in the region (LVR). He has been studying dialects from the Cologne section of the Rhine Valley for years.

Dialects here have developed similarly to other parts of Germany, he says. Initially, separate dialects developed so that particular groups could express themselves more easily amongst themselves. Over time, it was used as a way of distancing themselves from other surrounding groups.

An uncertain future

Research clearly indicates that dialect usage in Germany is on the decrease. Particularly in northern Germany, dialects are disappearing rapidly, while in the southern states of Bavaria and Baden-Württemberg, for instance, dialect remains quite commonplace.

Still, Cornelissen says the trend is clear. Less dialect is being spoken and people are tending to use standard German.

"When children don't learn dialect in their early years, then that way of speaking doesn't become something they associate with their home," explained Cornelissen.

The Academy for the Cologne Language has been teaching Kölsch in schools since 2007. The classes give local and immigrant children a chance to learn the local dialect.

It's not just a replacement for the process that used to take place in the family home, it's also important to create a group identity among Cologne's kids, says academy head Hans-Georg Bögner.

"We want to keep Kölsch alive through programs like this. If we don't, our dialect will fall apart," he said.

Author: André Leslie

Editor: Kate Bowen