The School of German Language and Philology was founded in the academic year 1960/61 as one of the four schools of the Institute of Foreign Languages and Philologies, which was an Annex of the Faculty of Philosophy of Aristotle University of Thessaloniki (Law 5139/1931). Until 1980, the responsibility for the educational, administrative and other issues concerning the Institute, and subsequently the School of German Language and Literature, was held by the Supervisory Board, the three members of which were professors from the faculty of Philosophy. The direction of the School was taken over by German scholars assigned by the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD).
The first director of the School was Professor Kurt Graf von Posadowsky-Wehner (1903–1996).
During its first year of operation, the School had 10 students. The first students, six in number, graduated at the end of the academic year 1964-65.
The chair of German Language and Literature was staffed in 1980 with the adjunct professor Elisabeth Herbrandt-Kotzia, who took over the direction of the Department.
From the academic year 1982-83, the School of German Language and Literature, like all other Schools of the former Institute of Foreign Languages and Philologies, operates as one of the eight independent Schools of the Faculty of Philosophy (Law 1268/1982). Professor Elisabeth Herbrandt-Kotzia was elected the first President of the School.
