| Germany Deutscher Gehoerlosen-Bund e.V. (German acronym: DGB) Established: 1927 Address: Am Zirkus 4, 10117 Berlin, Germany Contact details: E-mail: info@gehoerlosen-bund.de Fax: (+49) 89 99 26 98 895 Tel: (+49) 89 99 26 98 95 Website link: http://www.gehoerlosen-bund.de
Mission statement of the organisation All measures taken by the German Deaf Association aim for the promotion of sign language and the empowerment of the sign language community and its culture.
Details of the Board President: Rudolf Sailer (D)
Statistics General population (Including hearing people): 82,000,000 Official or approximate figures of the number of Deaf people: 100,000 (estimate) Official numbers of people holding a disabled person card (Behindertenausweis) due to a hearing impairment:
Official or approximate numbers of Deaf people who use sign language as their primary language? There are no statistics in Germany about the number of Deaf people using sign language as their primary language. How many people are members of the NAD? In order to answer this question, one needs to understand how deaf people in Germany are organized: In almost every bigger city in Germany, there are Deaf Clubs (Gehoerlosenverein), where Deaf individuals can become members. There are many clubs of that kind, about 600 of them are organized under the roof of the German Deaf Association. Then, in every German Federal State, there is one State Association of the Deaf (Gehoerlosen-Landesverband). Clubs of the Deaf are members of the State Associations of the Deaf. This means, indiciduals cannot join, only Clubs. The 16 Local Associations of the Deaf are full members of the German Deaf Association. Apart from the Clubs and State Associations mentioned above, there are Special Interest Organisations of the Deaf, e.g. sports associations, church associations, card game associations and many more. The local Special Interest Organisations usually are members of the State Associations of the Deaf. However, there are also nationwide Special Interest Organisations such as the German Sports Association of the Deaf, the German Union of Sign Language Instructors/Teachers, the Association for the Culture and History of the Deaf etc. These nationwide Special Interest Associations are members of the German Deaf Association. In total, there are about 33,000 Deaf people organised under the roof of the German Deaf Association through the Clubs, Special Interest Organizations and State Associations of the Deaf. Does your National Association of the Deaf publish any magazine or newsletters for your members? We publish a members' circular letter 3 times a year. Every two weeks, a newsletter is sent out. Does your National Association of the Deaf have a Youth section? Yes, the "Deutsche Gehoerlosen-Jugend e.V." (German Deaf Youth: http://www.gehoerlosen-jugend.de)
Status of Sign Language Is Sign Language legally recognised as part of your Government's constitution? It is not recognised in the constitution but Sign Language was legally recognised in the Social Code Book IX (Sozialgesetzbuch IX) in 2001. Also, it is included in the Disability Equality Law (Behindertengleichstellungsgesetz) of 2002. There is an equality law which is valid for all of Germany (Bundesgleichstellungsgesetz). In addition, every Federal State has its own equality law (Landesgleichstellungsgesetz).
Status of Sign Language Interpreters Approximate number of qualified sign language interpreters: Sign language interpreters do not have to be members of the Association of Sign Language Interpreters. Therefore, it is hard to tell how many qualified sign language interpreters there are in Germany. Details of training centre/courses: There are various full-time and part-time training options. Full-time training is available at:
Part-time training for people, who already have a good knowledge of German Sign Language, is possible at:
These courses are at the same time the preparation for the state examination, where interpreting knowledge and quality is examined and ensured. State examination offices are located in Darmstadt (http://www.afl.hessen.de) and in Nuremberg (http://www.giby.de/infothek/staatliche-pruefung.html).
Technology Does your country provide Video Interpreting Service? There is one for private use, called "TeSS" (http://www.tess-relay-dienste.de). The other one is called "Telesign" (http://www.telesign.com) and can be used for business purposes, so that deaf employees can make work-related calls.
Universities/Sign Language Units Are there any universities that deal with Sign Language? (Deaf Studies, Linguistics, Interpreting)?
Deaf Schools Number of Deaf Schools: There are approximately 25-30 schools for the Deaf in Germany. Education method (Sign Language, Oral or other methods): Due to the legal recognition of Sign Language in the Social Code Book and in the equality laws of the Federal States, education methods have changed. There are bilingual classes in some schools and sign language is used in a number of places. However, the oral method is still used, too. Also, Cochlear Implants become more and more popular in Germany, so there are some integrative school concepts, too.
DGB Position Paper on the rights of Deaf people (in German).
DGB recently moved to its new location in Berlin:
Last updated: 01 April 2010 |
