Aims

Since its founding on October 2, 1845, the Deutsche Morgenländische Gesellschaft (DMG) has been the most important scientific association of German Orientalists. Its members work on the languages and cultures of the Middle East, Asia, Oceania, and Africa, as well as on the relationships between these areas and their neighboring regions.

The disciplines represented in the DMG are: Egyptology, Ancient Oriental Studies, Semitic Studies and Philology, Hebrew Studies, Arabic Studies and Philology, Islamic Studies, the Study of the Christian Orient, Iranian Studies, Buddhist Studies, Indology, Turkology, Altaic Studies, Mongolian Studies, Tibetan Studies, Sinology, Japanology, Southeast Asian Studies, African Studies, and related subjects.

The society had its first legal seat in Leipzig. Its establishment was primarily driven by the efforts of Arabist Heinrich Leberecht Fleischer (1801–1888), who taught at the University of Leipzig. In 1945, since private scholarly associations were no longer allowed to exist in the Soviet Occupation Zone, the DMG was removed from the Leipzig Register of Associations by order of the occupation force.

The DMG was re-established in Mainz on June 4, 1948, with the permission of the French military government. Since 28 September 2006, the society has its legal seat in Halle (Saale).