Peter Liermann

Peter W. Liermann, age 81, of Decorah, IA, died Monday morning, April 30, 2018 at Mayo Clinic Hospital, Saint Marys Campus, in Rochester, MN. Memorial Services will be held at 1:30 p.m. Thursday, May 10, 2018 at Congregational United Church of Christ in Decorah with Pastor Laura Arnold officiating.   Visitation will begin on Thursday at 12:30 p.m., one hour before the service, at Decorah U.C.C. Peter Wilhelm Liermann was born October 27, 1936, in Erlangen, Germany, the third child of Hans, a professor of law at Erlangen University, and Margarete Liermann.  He often reflected on his early years in Erlangen, where he experienced what he would call a “normal childhood” in the university town, protected by his parents from their increasing alarm at events leading up to and during WWII.  Following high school at the Humanistisches Gymnasium Fridericianum, he studied theology and law at Erlangen and Hamburg, completing his law studies in 1959 by passing the Erstes Juristisches Staatsexamen.   Peter received an exchange scholarship and Fulbright Travel Grant in 1959 to study law at the University of Colorado, where the opportunity to teach German – in his words – altered the course of his life.  To the dismay of his family, Peter turned away from law and in 1961 became a German instructor at the Erlangen American Elementary and Junior High School, teaching kindergarten to ninth grade; he also taught first and second year German for the University of Maryland, European Division. Peter returned to the University of Colorado in 1965 and in 1970 earned his Master of Arts in Germanic Linguistics.  By 1971, he was again in the employ of the American Military schools, based in Nürnberg first as district curriculum coordinator and ultimately in program supervision for all the American schools in Europe.  Intercultural education was at the time a new concept that introduced students to all aspects of the country in which they studied, and this holistic approach was a teaching philosophy that enriched Peter’s own teaching throughout his career.   Granted an educational leave, Peter began his doctoral work at the University of Iowa in 1977, where he re-discovered his love for teaching and soon resigned his administrative position in Germany.  While working on his dissertation, Peter taught at Iowa State University and at Drake University.  He completed the Ph.D. in German linguistics and arrived at Luther College in 1981, where he taught German language, literature, and culture until retiring in 2005.  At Luther, he founded the semester study abroad program based in Münster, Germany, an innovative program designed for students just beginning their study of the German language, a program that continues to this day.  Designed as a total immersion experience, students live with native German families, learning to use the language in their daily lives while learning about the culture – putting into practice the very teaching philosophy he espoused at the beginning of his career. Peter lived life to the fullest.  He loved the outdoors and reveled in the wonders of nature. Nothing gave him more joy than listening to his beloved wife Jessica at the piano, whether in concert or in the sitting room at home. He had a broad appreciation of literature, the arts, politics, history -- and of people.  He had the uncanny ability to “read them” in an instant.  Those with whom he resonated were instantly drawn to his warmth, intelligence, and sense of humor.  Peter was equally devoted to his family on both continents, cherished his children and grandchildren, and treasured his close friends and colleagues at Luther College.  He spoke with an honesty that was almost startling, and he valued the same in return.  Though he never realized his dream of opening a bakery (and wine store), he delighted in the labor-intensive annual ritual of preparing mounds of cookies, pastries, and breads from his family traditions to share with his students, family, and friends at Christmastime.  His love for animals is widely known, and his love was generously returned by each dog, cat, and horse he owned.  Peter leaves behind his wife, Jessica Paul, of Decorah; four children:  Mark (Amy) Liermann, born in Germany and raised in the U.S., of Vicksburg, Mich.; Eric (Cathy) Thomas of Hailey, Id.; Alex Thomas of St. Paul, Minn.; and Kirsten (Dale) Dodds of Rochester, Minn., as well as seven grandchildren.  Peter’s Swiss family includes nephews Ueli Tobler (Elisabeth Tobler-St?mpfli) of Müntschemier; Andres Tobler (Konrade von Bremen) of Bern; Konrad Tobler (Elisabeth Schwarzenbeck) of Bern; and Georg Tobler (Beatrice Miescher) of Bern.  His German family includes nephew Axel (Elke) Gross of Gärtringen, and nieces Eva (Claus) Denk of Bad Homburg and Ursula Gross of Munich, along with great-nieces and nephews.    Peter was preceded in death by sister Christel Tobler-Liermann and her husband, Rolf Tobler, of Bern, Switzerland, and sister Dorla and her husband, Hans, Gross of Munich, Germany.