This paper investigates the use of video-on-demand lessons (VOD) in L2 German teaching at Hiroshima University during the Covid pandemic in 2020. Based on the results of a student survey (n= 61), the effectiveness of on-demand visual teaching material created for two German beginner classes was evaluated. By taking the online teaching environment at Hiroshima University into account, the study intends to answer the following questions: (1) Which pedagogic and technical challenges does the creation and implementation of L2 German VOD lessons pose? (2) Which merits and drawbacks do asynchronous VOD lessons have compared to synchronous teaching approaches? (3) How effective is the audio-visual teaching material created? and (4) How do participants perceive the use of VOD for their L2 learning? In order to answer these questions, the article documents the creation and implementation of the two German VOD lessons, and then critically evaluates their effectiveness, based on the results of the survey.