Cologne Tamil Studies

The study of Tamil at Cologne University has its roots in the Institute of Indology founded in 1963 by Prof. Dr. Klaus-Ludwig Janert. 

Prof. Monika Thiel-Horstmann succeeded Prof. Janert, who further strengthened the department by employing Dr. Thomas Malten, as a Tamil lecturer.

Dr. Malten acted as on-site director for the project Pongal 2000. He contributed by creating an online tamil Lexicon and as well as a Tamil Text Thesaurus (TTT). These efforts lead to the addition of ancient Tamil palm-leaves texts to the “Memory of the World Register” maintained by UNESCO.

Prof. Dr. Dieter Kapp took over the department in 1990 and extensively researched the grammar, text and oral dialects of the tribal communities in Nilgiris, Tamil Nadu.  

In 2006, internationally well-known Tamil scholar Prof. Dr. Ulrike Niklas became head of the department. Under Prof. Dr. Dieter Kapp and Prof. Dr. Ulrike Niklas, the focus on language and culture of the Tamil realm as a distinguishing feature of the institute was further developed. 

Her research was focused on Rural Tamil culture, field work, Classical Tamil, manuscript cataloguing, Tamil teaching methodology, Colloquial Tamil and documentation of traditional games such as jallikattu. She translated many classical Tamil literature to German, including Pathinen Kizhkannakku Noolgal (பதினெண் கீழ்க்கணக்கு நூல்கள்), Tholkappiyam (தொல்காப்பியம்), Yapparunkala Kaarigai (யாப்பருங்கலக் காரிகை). She also received the prestigious Grammar Award & most recently the G U Pope Award from Govt. of Tamil Nadu.