“Voices from Afar: The First Chinese Sound Recordings in 1920s Berlin”

Lecture by Prof. Dr. Henning Klöter on 9 October 2026 at 19:30 at the Confucius Institute Munich or via Zoom/YouTube livestream

Summary

In 1920s Berlin, a unique acoustic window onto China emerged: some of the oldest known sound recordings of Chinese language varieties were produced there — far from their original linguistic environment. This lecture introduces the fascinating history behind these recordings, which are now preserved in the Lautarchiv of Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin.

The focus is on two distinct projects: recordings of the Hakka dialect, produced as part of a large-scale language documentation project, and Mandarin recordings that served as innovative accompanying material for what was likely the earliest audio-based Chinese language course in Germany. Who were the people behind these recordings? Which institutions made this pioneering work possible? And who were the speakers whose voices have been preserved to this day?

The lecture not only explores the historical context and the networks connecting academia, technology and society in interwar Berlin, but also asks what significance these recordings hold today. They open up new perspectives for linguistics, media history and the history of Chinese language teaching in Germany.

About the Speaker

Henning Klöter has been Professor of Modern Chinese Languages and Literatures at Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin since 2015. After receiving his doctorate from Leiden University in 2003, he taught in Taipei, Bochum, Mainz and Göttingen, among other places. His current research focuses on the history of Chinese linguistics in Europe, multilingualism and language planning in China, as well as the language history of overseas Chinese communities.

To participate via Zoom, please register here.

The lecture will be broadcast live on YouTube at the same time.