Zeitgeist is a German word meaning “the spirit of the age” or “the spirit of the time.” It is also the name of a German club at Iowa State.

Kristian Schmidt, president of Zeitgeist and graduate in statistics, came to America in 2006 from his home in Unna, Germany, as an exchange student.

“Before I came here, I tried to find some connects to the Germans here,” Schmidt said.

Zeitgeist, a club founded in 1994, was advertised as a way to organize ISU students from Germany. Schmidt became involved almost immediately when the club picked him up from the airport.

Eventually, Schmidt decided to stay all four years and finish college in Ames. He became president of Zeitgeist, which has 5 to 10 active members. Schmidt said about half the members are from Germany and the other half are Americans who have been to Germany.

“There’s no criteria [to join Zeitgeist],” Schmidt said. “Anybody can get involved. But we would like them to be able to have a conversation in German. They probably won’t get too much out of [the group] if they can’t have a simple conversation, because we do try to only speak German at the meetings.”

Zeitgeist meets at 7 p.m. every Thursday at Stomping Grounds and discusses topics such as school, news from home and personal issues — in German, of course. They also take trips to Oktoberfest in the Amana Colonies and participate in events like the International Food Fair on campus.

“[Zeitgeist] is really to connect with other Germans and be able to talk to people in your language. Just a little bit of home in Ames,” Schmidt said.

Zeitgeist isn’t the only ISU club for students interested in German culture.

Daniel Chrusciel, president of German Club and senior in industrial engineering, said the 15 to 20 members of his club are able to experience German culture while still maintaining their American culture. Members do not need to know German to join.

“Our club is about providing a German experience to [ISU] students,” Chrusciel said. “We like to do German cultural stuff.”

German Club meets twice a month to watch German movies, go to German restaurants or learn something new about the culture, such as how to polka-dance.

“[German Club] is basically for students who want to have a little piece of Germany,” Chrusciel said.