Heidrun Deborah Kämper

Prof. Dr. Heidrun Deborah Kämper is an Adjunct Professor at the Leibniz Institute for the German Language (IDS) and former apl. Professor at Universität Mannheim. She leads research projects on 20th-century democracy discourse and linguistic history, with a focus on sociopolitical language shifts in the 1920s–1930s. Her work connects linguistic analysis to societal transformations, exemplified by her study of the term 'Neue Sachlichkeit' and its relationship to democratic concepts.

Research interests include:

• Historical language change and cultural memory
• Lexical shifts in political and social terminology
• Language as a mirror of societal upheavals

She has been a guest lecturer at international universities and actively participates in interdisciplinary initiatives such as the 'Demokratiebegriff' book club and the 'Sprachliche Normen im Zeitalter KI' discussions. Her current projects explore the linguistic dimensions of democracy debates in interwar Germany.