DEUFRAMAT: German-French materials

DEUFRAMAT (German-French materials) was a media project of the Georg Eckert Institute, chaired by Professor Alfred Pletsch, Philipps University, Marburg. It was completed in 2005.

The initial idea for this project came from Brigitte Sauzay, the former advisor to the chancellor Gerhard Schröder on Franco-German relations, and Professor Rudolf von Thadden, the coordinator of Franco-German cooperation in the German foreign office (1999-2003). It is based on the conviction that the rapprochement of German and French civil societies, and in particular young people's involvement with their neighbouring country at a time when European societies are growing closer together, represents an important political task and a special challenge.

Deuframat is a collection of materials available online, which consists of over 100 items about Franco-German history and geography, gathered in six thematic sections. In addition to specialist articles and analyses, each section contains a comprehensive selection of sources, statistics and documents, including images, sound documents and similar materials.

Materials available in French and German are:

• interdisciplinary, designed to reveal transdisciplinary interconnections;
• bicultural, in order to demonstrate the common features and differences between German and French perspectives and perceptions;
• multiperspectival, insofar as they deal with topics from different temporal, spatial and social points of view;
• bilingual, in order to facilitate contact and cooperation across borders;
• interactive, involving multimedia, so that they reach and motivate young people via the virtual medium of the internet.

The internet takes precedence over other forms of presentation (books, printed materials, transparencies). The internet thus facilitates cooperation and communication between French and German partners. These are particularly beneficial to teaching ("virtual Franco-German classroom") because they foster linguistic and media skills and favour independent learning in a decisive way.

The content of the material collection has been available online in its current form since 2005, and the graphical presentation of the data since 2012. The platform and the content are no longer being developed or updated, but the number of users is still at a high level, which indicates a continuing high level of interest in DeuFraMat.