Leipzig in Brno

A report about Brno, its people and Czech language through German eyes

From August to October stayed for the second time german students in Brno. They came here with the Kafka Programme of the german Hertie foundation to do a traineeship in several institutions. Two of them worked at the Masaryk University in the Office of International Studies and in the Office for Marketing and Public Relation of the Rectorate. I was one of these two students got to know the PR-work of the university.

Fortunately it was possible to speak English in the office because we came here with a preparational course in czech which lasted only for 6 days. We were then able to buy some rolls in the bakery and to ask for the way but not much more. Through all the stay in Brno we tried to exceed our knowledge in the czech language and at least concerning the menues in the restaurants we were quite sucessful so that at the end of our stay we were knowing what we have ordered even before we saw the meal. But if somebody talked to us in czech, even phrases we knew, we fell in a kind of panic in the need to react quickly and didn’t understand anything. However, the people in Brno usually stayed very friendly, they laughed then and tried to manage the situation without our help.



The Masaryk University was for me quite impressive because of the beautiful buildings it has, which are mostly in a very modern style in the inside, and because of the big project of the new Bohunice Campus which looked very futuristic and interesting to me. But as well the electronic information system of the university showed that it is a step forward compared to other universities I know.
All of our group enjoyed the stay in Brno very much. Probably it had something to do with the amount of beer we drank in the pubs and restaurants of the town and the interesting music we saw here. But it was as well because it is always possible to discover something new in this city which owns so many buildings with interesting architecture, theaters, art galeries and a lot more. On the weekends we often travelled to other moravian towns like Telč, Třebič or Olomouc and experienced by that the other parts of this region.
At the end of our stay I will be probably a bit sad to leave but I will take a lot of impressions of Brno and it’s people with me and hopefully return to this place again.