Arabic language and literature studies in Germany from past to present

The Arabic language, which was used mostly based on oral expression in the pre-Islamic periods, started to be used as a written language at the same time with the descent of the Qur'an. With the spread of Islam, the interest in Arabic language and literature continued to increase day by day. The Islamic civilization, which became a world civilization in a short time, reached the borders of Europe and eventually became the center of attention of Western civilization. Western countries, which are foreign to the Islamic civilization, have started to work in the field of Arabic language and literature in order to get to know this civilization. In Germany, these studies started later than in other Western countries. In the 18th century, the work of Johann Jacob Reiske and Johann Wolfgang von Goethe increased the interest in Arabic language and literature in Germany. Withal as a result of the deep-rooted and serious studies of many orientalists who lived in different periods, many works in the field of Arabic language and literature were presented. German orientalist Prof. Hellmut Ritter, one of Fuat Sezgin's teachers, is an example of this. At the same time, Arabic language chairs were established in universities and institutes on Arabic language and literature in various cities of Germany. In our thesis, we will examine and scrutinize such studies made in Germany and some of the published works. However, we will compare the studies done in the past with the studies done today and try to evaluate his contributions to the Arabic language and literature. We hope that this thesis will contribute to academic studies in the field. Keywords: Arabic language and literature, Germany, German orientalists, Islamic civilization