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Germans and especially Celts are very popular. Many legends are associated with them. But what if everything is a bit different? First of all, both groups are considered ethnic groups, with archaeologists, historians, linguists and other researchers relying on ancient written sources to determine the ethnicity of the Celts and the Germanic people. But the problem is that there are many definitions of ethnicity, and none is universally valid. And who knows how (if at all) ethnicity was understood and perceived by ancient authors...

So what is known about the Germans and the Celts? Are the Czechs really descendants of the Celts? In what ways does it help to look at the Germans as, for example, whales or spinach? And why do we still learn information from textbooks and educational books that has not been valid for many years? Vladimír Salač from the Institute of Archaeology of the CAS Prague and the Department of Archaeology of Faculty of Arts, University of West Bohemia in Pilsen summarises this topic in a unique course for the general public. He explains who the Celts and Germans actually were, what sources we draw from and what we think we know. It also looks at the notions of ethnicity and nation and answers the question of whether Celts or Germans can be described as such.

Where are the Celts from?
It is not only archaeologists who hope that the older a written source is, the better it allows us to know the origins of the Celts and Germans. The earliest extant written source mentioning the Celts are fragments of three sentences of Hecataeus of Miletus, written around 500 B.C. "The meaning of the term Celts is not clear in Hecataeus; it cannot be proven that it refers to an ethnic group. Hekataios mentions the Celts on the French Mediterranean coast, but his data do not prove their presence in Central Europe," says Vladimír Salač from the Institute of Archaeology of the CAS, Prague, describing the earliest mention of the Celts.

"However, Herodotus also claims that the Celts live beyond the Pillars of Heracles (Gibraltar) and neighbour the westernmost European people, the Kynesians. It is not clear whether Herodotus knew where the Danube rises," says Vladimír Salač. "Herodotus' account cannot be evidence of the presence of Celts in Central Europe in the 5th century BC."

The course will be enjoyed by professionals and laymen alike
It will be a so-called MOOC course, which stands for Massive Open Online Course. It is a format that is open to the general public, open to thousands to tens of thousands of participants (hence massive), usually free (hence open), always fully online, and includes a syllabus, study materials including video lectures, interactive assignments, discussions, tests, and a final assessment.

Upon successful completion of the course, participants can receive a certificate confirming their acquired knowledge and skills. The online course Our Celts and Germans is available for free from 15 October 2024.

The course Our Celts and Germans was created by the Faculty of Arts of the University of West Bohemia in Pilsen in cooperation with the Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic, where it was supported by the research programme Anatomy of European Society within the framework of the Strategy AV21 of the Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic. The preparation and implementation of the course was assisted by the team of the Department of Lifelong and Distance Education of the University of West Bohemia. The course and the interview are conducted by actor Daniel Možnar. The course Our Celts and Germans is free of charge.