Despite Germany's pioneering role, it lagged behind in the academic development of sinology, for it was not until 1887 that a Seminar fur Orientalische Sprachen (Department of Oriental Languages) was finally set up at Friedrich Wilhelm University (now Humboldt University) in Berlin.
相對地，起步甚早的德國在這方面卻仍步履蹣跚，直到一八八七年，才終於在柏林大學正式成立東方語言研究所。