Verena Ebert

Verena Ebert serves as a researcher at the Institute for German Philology, University of Würzburg, specializing in linguistic approaches to decolonization through the analysis of colonial street name renamings. Currently leading a DFG-funded project (2022-2025) titled Sprachliche Praktiken der Dekolonisierung? Umbenennungen kolonialer Straßennamen, she examines historical and contemporary renaming processes in German urban landscapes since 1945 through three methodological pillars: name inventories, decision-making scenarios, and public documentation forms.

Her educational background includes First (2014) and Second State Examinations for teaching at German secondary schools (Gymnasien) in German, History, and Social Studies. While maintaining teaching credentials, her research focuses on the intersection of linguistics, onomastics, and postcolonial studies, investigating how street names reflect colonial legacies and how renaming functions as linguistic decolonization practice.

Ebert's scholarly output reveals consistent thematic concentration on colonial topography in German cities, with increasing methodological sophistication. Her work combines historical analysis of colonial-era naming (1884-1945) with contemporary discourse studies of renaming debates, identifying patterns in argumentation types, decision processes, and textual documentation. Recent publications demonstrate expansion into comparative frameworks and educational applications, such as adapting renaming processes for German language classrooms. She actively engages public discourse through presentations at the GAL conference in Dresden (2024) and the Kiel research workshop Wen interessieren schon Straßennamen? (2024), plus representation at the Africa Festival (2025).

As principal investigator for significant DFG projects (Grant No. 492996932), Ebert demonstrates substantial research leadership. Her current project analyzes renaming processes across democratic contexts, incorporating both top-down administrative perspectives and bottom-up public participation. The upcoming 2025 follow-up project will develop an integrated database documenting colonial street name handling since 1945.

Within the Chair of German Linguistics, Ebert collaborates with colleagues including Breyl, Fritz-Scheuplein, Fulst, and Schulz, contributing to the institute's broader linguistic research ecosystem that includes the Bavarian Dialect Database and Würzburg Language Doubt Database. Her work represents a critical bridge between academic linguistics and contemporary societal debates about colonial legacies in public space.