Von Zedlitz Building Recreation Centre

The first of the buildings planned for the western side of Kelburn Parade, the Von Zedlitz Building, was occupied in late 1978. It houses the Faculty of Languages and Literature and the Department of Sociology and Social Work.

The foundation of the Faculty of Languages and Literature was laid back in 1899 when the University's first lour Professors were appointed. Two of these. Classics Professor John Rankine Brown, and English Language and Literature Professor Hugh Mackenzie, served for 46 and 37 years respectively, and started the University's teaching in Languages and Literature.

Three years later, in 1902, the University's fifth professor arrived - Professor George William Von Zedlitz - to lecture in modern languages. His stay at Victoria was much shorter, but the controversies surrounding his dismissal from the University by an Act of Parliament in 1915, gave him a prominent place in the annals of the University.

George William von Zedlitz - an Oxford University graduate, born in Eastern Germany as the only child of a titled German father and an English mother. His father, he never knew - for his parents parted company before he was even born. In spite of his mothers financial difficulties, the young von Zedlitz won a scholarship to Trinity College, Oxford, and read classics.

He came to Victoria in 1902 from a teaching position at a leading Scottish public school - a fluent speaker of German with a command of French and Italian. He quickly won the affection and respect of his students and colleagues.

The battle of the then college council against growing antagonism towards von Zedlitz after the start of World War I, has been well documented in Professor Beaglchole's history of Victoria University College. Von Zedlitz, whether a German national or not, was removed from his post by an Act of Parliament.

After the war he became a well-known adult education lecturer, broadcaster and literary authority but he was not restored to his teaching post at Victoria. He was, in 1936, made a Professor Emeritus of the University and now, some thirl) years after his death, the University pays its final tribute to him - a lasting memorial to a man who represented, in his love of learning and his contributions to New Zealand intellectual life, all the best qualities expected in a University.

The Department of Sociology and Social Work is a relative newcomer to the University in comparison with the Language and Literature Departments. The first Chair of Social Science was filled 31 years ago and Social work celebrated its 25th anniversary last year. For many years the Department has been located on the fringe of the University in old houses beyond Weir House. It is now firmly established closer to the heart of the campus.

Departments within the Faculty of Languages and Literature teach ten different languages - Chinese, English, French, German, Greek, Indonesian, Italian, Latin, Russian, and Spanish.

Serving all Departments are the Language Laboratories in the basement of the Von Zedlitz Building - set up with the latest tape recorders and monitoring equipment and providing facilities also for individual study in a wide range of other languages.