An espresso with…Dr Dieter Brand-Kruth
Dieter Brand-Kruth studied for his teaching degree (biology and German) at the University of Bremen from 1993 to 1999. He had previously given up a career as a police officer (1979-1982) after a serious accident. He then worked as a trainee and editor at the Nordwest-Zeitung Oldenburg, and from 2000 to 2014 he was a secondary school teacher at Gymnasium Horn. In 2017 he earned his doctorate in cultural studies. Since then he has been doing research on fairy tales.
Why did you decide to study at the University of Bremen?
There were three main reasons. I had previously lived in Oldenburg and then there was the fortunate circumstance that my partner also wanted to move to Bremen for professional reasons. Another factor was that Uni Bremen is a campus university and all the faculties and key facilities are close together. The rooms for my two subjects, biology and German, were only a few hundred metres apart. As a wheelchair user, that was a decisive advantage for me, even though the university was not barrier-free. What I also really liked was that there was a project-based approach in Bremen, which was also very closely linked to research-based learning.
Did your experience studying here meet your expectations?
The study projects were excellent. In our biology coursework, we had a two-semester project on media in biology. I worked with a fellow student on the topic "From wood to paper". We researched for a semester, met with a forester and visited a paper mill, then ended up producing a half-hour video. We were able to create this relatively independently, in consultation with our lecturers. In our German programme, we delved into the subject of tourism, which at first glance seems somewhat unrelated. But then we created a city guide, among other things, for which I wrote the chapter “Around Bremen in a wheelchair”. That city guide still exists today.
What was it like for you back then as a wheelchair user at the university?
The university already had some facilities that took a step towards accessibilityor example, buttons that could open doors. But overall, it wasn’t that easy to make my way around. GW2 is quite confusing anyway, and with my wheelchair I always had to use the lifts and find my way around again on each floor. That was horrible in the first semester! Then there are the cobblestones in the GW2 courtyard, which I had to give a wide berth. The biggest problem was the detours and the extra time that took. In my biology courses, there were sometimes difficulties with the experiments. These are usually more complicated to arrange from a wheelchair, but with a little assistance, most of it was manageable.
After your traineeship and ten years of teaching, you went back to get your doctorate. What prompted you to do that?
I wanted to do academic work again. I was fascinated by the accuracy involved in working with source materials. I wasn't really aware of that at first. But when the whole plagiarism discussion came up in the Guttenberg case, I took it very seriously for my own work. The about 1,500 citations in my dissertation are scrupulously documented. And fairy tales have been present for me since childhood. My mother read us many fairy tales and the environment around where we lived, in Dörpen in Emsland, right on the edge of the forest, certainly added to that presence. Towards the end of my studies, I took up fairy tales as an academic subject for the first time. I was particularly inspired by my semester abroad at the University of North London, where I attended a seminar in which we examined fairy tales using Sigmund Freud's methods of psychoanalysis.
Your dissertation is a socio-cultural study of the Bremen Town Musicians. What fascinates you about that story and fairy tales in general?
There is wisdom in fairy tales. Fairy tales are not true stories that actually happened, but they still contain an infinite number of truths about life. The Bremen Town Musicians are about how it’s worthwhile to show solidarity. That you shouldn’t quit in the face of problems, but rather look squarely at the situation and see clearly what resources you have to turn things around in a positive way and find allies, to develop a strategy and to set out on your journey. The amazing thing about the Town Musicians is that the donkey does it all. The supposedly stupid one is the clever one who best recognises the situation. He has a strategy, he has empathy for the other animals and he motivates them. "You have a powerful voice," he says to the rooster, although he complains shortly before: "Your cries are enough to pierce bone and marrow." There is, of course, a dose of irony in that.
“Don't give up” – that has something to do with your own life story, too…
Of course. But that goes for everyone. If you have a problem, make yourself aware of what resources you have. Can I do it myself or do I need allies? The fairy tale is a refugee story where power relations and age play a particular role, and yet the messages can be applied to many situations in life, to young people’s lives, too. I’ve elucidated all that in detail in my book "Auf nach Bremen – den Stadtmusikanten auf der Spur".
What advice would you give to students today?
Media literacy is very important. Sources and their reliability are very important. Accuracy matters. Studying original works is also valuable, as many sources are available in digital form. Now that artificial intelligence and ChatGPT are playing an increasingly larger role, a constantly critical view is imperative. If you take these things seriously, you can get through material much more effectively. I am still enthusiastic about project-based studying and research-based learning. When opportunities like this open up, take advantage of them!
What keeps you connected with the University of Bremen?
Actually, the alumni association. So many contacts and the opportunities it provides to tap into urban society, site visits included – that’s brilliant. Also, the university is still a resource pool for me today, where I can get books and media and maintain academic contacts