History | Storja

Since 2000, Thomas Stolz and Ray Fabri (Malta) initiated and further deepened contacts between the Bremen Linguistics Department, its partner institute at the Università ta' Malta and the Department of Maltese at the same university. From these early beginnings, the idea has developed to strengthen Maltese linguistics institutionally also from an international perspective. To this end, the first international conference on Maltese linguistics (1st Lingwistika Maltija) was held in Bremen in 2007 and on this occasion the Għaqda Internazzjonali tal-Lingwistika Maltija / International Association of Maltese Linguistics (GĦiLM) was founded, which has since been chaired by Thomas Stolz. GĦiLM has numerous active members from France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Malta, New Zealand, Poland, Slovakia, Spain, the USA and many more. Meanwhile, seven conferences have already taken place in Bremen (2x), Malta (2x), Lyon, Turin, Bratislava and Krakow. The 8th Lingwistika Maltija is planned for September 2023 in Bremen.

From the successful establishment of GĦiLM, the logical step was the foundation of the Malta Centre on 29 June 2012 based on a cooperation agreement between the then University Rectors Wilfried Müller (Bremen) and Juanito Camilleri (Malta). After a five-year term, this contract was extended in 2017 for another five years until June 2022. Thomas Stolz took over the directorship of the Malta Centre. From 2012 to 2020, Benjamin Saade worked administratively at the Malta Centre. In 2014, the then President of the Republic of Malta, George Abela, visited Germany on the occasion of his state visit and took the opportunity to underline the importance attached to the Malta Centre from an official Maltese perspective. Several visits were also made to the Malta Centre by the Ambassadors of Malta, the Rector of the Università ta' Malta and a representative of the Junior College.

Sa mis-sena 2000, Thomas Stolz u Ray Fabri (Malta) bdew u komplew isaħħu l-kuntatti bejn id-Dipartiment tal-Lingwistika ta’ Bremen, l-istitut imsieħeb tiegħu fl-Università ta’ Malta u d-Dipartiment tal-Malti fl-istess università. Minn dan il-bidu bikri, żviluppat l-idea li tissaħħaħ il-lingwistika Maltija b’mod istituzzjonali anke minn perspettiva internazzjonali. Għal dan il-għan, saret l-ewwel konferenza internazzjonali dwar il-lingwistika Maltija (1st Lingwistika Maltija) fi Bremen fl-2007 u f’din l-okkażjoni twaqqfet l-Għaqda Internazzjonali tal-Lingwistika Maltija (GĦiLM) li minn dak iż-żmien ġiet ippreseduta minn Thomas Stolz. GĦiLM għandha bosta membri attivi minn Franza, il-Ġermanja, l-Italja, il-Ġappun, Malta, New Zealand, il-Polonja, is-Slovakkja, Spanja, l-Istati Uniti u ħafna aktar. Sadanittant, saru seba’ konferenzi fi Bremen (2x), Malta (2x), Lyon, Turin, Bratislava u Kraków. It-8 Lingwistika Maltija hija ppjanata għal Settembru 2023 fi Bremen.

Wara t-twaqqif b’suċċess tal-GĦiLM, il-pass loġiku li jmiss kien it-twaqqif taċ-Ċentru tal-Ilsien Malti fid-29 ta’ Ġunju 2012 li kien ibbażat fuq ftehim ta’ kooperazzjoni bejn ir-Retturi tal-Università ta’ dak iż-żmien, Wilfried Müller (Bremen) u Juanito Camilleri (Malta). Wara terminu ta’ ħames snin, dan il-kuntratt ġie estiż fl-2017 għal ħames snin oħra, sa Ġunju 2022. Thomas Stolz ħa f’idejh it-tmexxija taċ-Ċentru tal-Ilsien Malti. Mill-2012 sal-2020, Benjamin Saade kien l-amministratur ewlieni fiċ-Ċentru tal-Ilsien Malti. Fl-2014, il-President tar-Repubblika ta’ Malta ta’ dak iż-żmien, George Abela, żar il-Ġermanja fl-okkażjoni taż-żjara statali tiegħu u ħa l-opportunità biex jenfasizza l-importanza mogħtija liċ-Ċentru tal-Ilsien Malti minn perspettiva uffiċjali Maltija. Saru wkoll diversi żjarat fiċ-Ċentru mill-Ambaxxaturi ta’ Malta, ir-Rettur tal-Università ta’ Malta u rappreżentant tal-Junior College.