About Zielsprache Deutsch

Zielsprache Deutsch

Zielsprache Deutsch is the international journal for German as a foreign and second language — "eine internationale Zeitschrift für Deutsch als Fremdsprache/Deutsch als Zweitsprache". Published in Tübingen since 1969/1970, first by the Hueber Verlag of Munich and then by the Stauffenburg Verlag, it serves the global community of German teachers, applied linguists and language-education researchers: four issues a year on teaching methodology, applied linguistics and the didactics of German. With the ISSN 0341-5864 and a publication record spanning more than five decades, it is one of the founding journals of the DaF/Z discipline. Since 1 April 2026, following the death of Stauffenburg founder Brigitte Narr in autumn 2025, the journal has been continued by the Franz Steiner Verlag of Stuttgart as a Stauffenburg imprint.

Overview

German as a foreign language — Deutsch als Fremdsprache (DaF) — is taught worldwide, from Goethe-Institut classrooms to university language centres to integration courses. Zielsprache Deutsch is one of the discipline's core journals: a forum where researchers and practitioners discuss how German is taught, learned and tested. Its contributions span language-teaching methodology, applied linguistics, grammar, intercultural German studies and the didactics of German — the theoretical and practical foundations of the field.

The journal appears four times a year in German, published for an international readership of German teachers, teacher trainers, applied linguists and education researchers. Library catalogues record its run from volume 1 (1970) through volume 32 (2001) and from volume 33 (2006) onwards — a continuity that makes its archive a record of how the teaching of German has evolved: from the audiolingual methods of the early years through the communicative turn to today's digital and intercultural paradigms.

That archive matters because the discipline it serves has grown enormously. When Zielsprache Deutsch began, German as a foreign language was a young academic field; today it is taught in schools and universities on every continent, examined in standardised tests, and debated in language-policy forums. The journal's five decades of volumes trace that growth article by article — a scholarly memory of how the world learned German.

The journal's recent history reflects the consolidation of Germany's humanities publishing. The Stauffenburg Verlag, founded in Tübingen in 1982 by Brigitte Narr, grew into an internationally recognised specialist publisher for the humanities; after Narr's death in autumn 2025, the Franz Steiner Verlag of Stuttgart took over selected parts of the programme — including Zielsprache Deutsch and the Zeitschrift für Semiotik — on 1 April 2026, continuing the Stauffenburg brand as an imprint.

History

Zielsprache Deutsch began in 1969/1970 as the successor to "Deutschunterricht für Ausländer", which had been published by the Hueber Verlag in Munich since 1951. The new journal's initial subtitle was "Zeitschrift für Unterrichtsmethodik und angewandte Sprachwissenschaft" — a journal for teaching methodology and applied linguistics — and until volume 32 (2001) it carried the subtitle "die Zeitschrift für den Deutschunterricht in der Erwachsenenbildung": the journal for German teaching in adult education.

From 1970 to 1999 the journal was published by Hueber in Munich; the Stauffenburg Verlag of Tübingen then took it over, publishing it from volume 33 (2006) onwards under the subtitle "eine internationale Zeitschrift für Deutsch als Fremdsprache/Deutsch als Zweitsprache". The Heidelberg University Library catalogue documents the holdings: volumes 1 (1970) through 32 (2001) and 33 (2006) onwards, with the Germanisten seminar holding a continuing subscription.

Brigitte Narr founded the Stauffenburg Verlag in Tübingen in 1982 and, together with the Edition Julius Groos, built it with expertise and passion into an established and internationally recognised humanities publisher — known for reliable, competent publishing support from manuscript to publication, careful editing and imaginative presentation. After her death in autumn 2025, the Franz Steiner Verlag — itself a profiled specialist publisher for the humanities and social sciences — began integrating selected parts of the Stauffenburg programme on 1 April 2026: journals and series such as the Zeitschrift für Semiotik, Zielsprache Deutsch, Studien zur deutschen Grammatik and Tertiärsprachen, plus individual titles in linguistics, German didactics, medieval studies, modern German literature, Romance studies and comparative literature. The Stauffenburg brand continues as an imprint of Franz Steiner Verlag, Stuttgart.

The transition was presented as a continuation, not a closure: the Franz Steiner Verlag welcomed all editors and authors, emphasising the ideal conditions its humanities profile offers for integrating the programme. For a journal that has appeared for over five decades, the move secures the next chapter — new volumes under a Stuttgart imprint, carrying forward a Tübingen tradition.

Content and Sections

As a journal for German as a foreign and second language, Zielsprache Deutsch publishes research articles, discussion contributions and reviews on the field's central questions: language-teaching methodology, applied linguistics, grammar and its didactics, intercultural communication, language assessment and the training of German teachers. Its contributions address both researchers — linguists, applied linguists, education scholars — and practitioners: teachers and teacher trainers working in adult education, schools, universities and integration courses.

The journal's thematic range reflects the discipline's development. Early volumes focused on teaching methodology and applied linguistics in the tradition of the field's founding decades; later volumes engaged the communicative and intercultural turns, the didactics of grammar, and the specific challenges of German as a second language in migration contexts. As one of the long-running journals of DaF/Z — alongside titles such as Info DaF, Fremdsprache Deutsch and the Zeitschrift für interkulturellen Fremdsprachenunterricht — it forms part of the discipline's core reading. University reading lists for linguistics and language-teaching programmes routinely include it among the essential journals, a mark of its standing in the field's canon.

The tone is academic and scholarly, aimed at a specialist readership of researchers, teacher trainers and practitioners. Publication is in German, in four issues a year, with the ISSN 0341-5864.

Publisher and Organization

Zielsprache Deutsch was founded in 1969/1970, succeeding "Deutschunterricht für Ausländer" (Hueber, Munich, from 1951). It was published by the Hueber Verlag, Munich, until 1999, and subsequently by the Stauffenburg Verlag, Tübingen (founded 1982 by Brigitte Narr). Since 1 April 2026 the journal has been published by the Franz Steiner Verlag, Stuttgart, which took over selected parts of the Stauffenburg programme — including Zielsprache Deutsch — and continues the Stauffenburg brand as an imprint. The takeover covers journals and series from German, comparative and Romance studies, with content focuses in linguistics, German didactics and German as a foreign and second language, complemented by a profiled backlist. The journal appears four times a year in German; its ISSN is 0341-5864 (ZDB-ID 212470-1). Individual editors and circulation figures have not been publicly confirmed in the sources available for this profile.

Digital Presence

The journal's publishing home has moved with its publisher: from the Stauffenburg programme pages at stauffenburg.de to the Franz Steiner Verlag's programme, where the integration of the Stauffenburg titles is documented and updated. Library catalogues — including the Heidelberg University Library's HEIDI — record the journal's holdings and continuing subscriptions, making its five-decade archive discoverable to researchers worldwide, from Tübingen seminar shelves to digital union catalogues. The H-Soz-Kult announcement of the programme takeover and the publisher's own integration notices keep the academic public informed about the journal's new home. As the Stauffenburg imprint settles into the Franz Steiner programme, Zielsprache Deutsch continues its role: the international journal where the teaching and learning of German as a foreign and second language is researched, discussed and advanced.