The Latest at Goethe

13 institutes, eight Goethe Centres, 24 cultural societies – today, the Goethe-Institut is more within reach in South America than ever before. In the Bolivian capital city of La Paz, the German cultural institute has been active for the past 45 years. It is not only where German is taught, but where all the diversity of German culture is presented. By Katharina Nickoleit

The new courses have begun and the Goethe-Institut in Bolivia’s capital city of La Paz is bustling with comings and goings. Most of the students who register for German lessons at the handsome, white, historical building are in their early twenties. Cyntia Ablas for instance, says, “I want to get a master’s degree in Germany and in order to apply for university and a scholarship I am taking a German course here.” The 22-year old is one of approximately 500 participants who sign up for a German course at the Goethe-Institut in La Paz every year. Like almost everywhere in South America, in Bolivia, Goethe is the only place in which adults can learn German.

All the culture that Germany has to offer

However, German courses are by far not all that the Goethe-Institut in La Paz has to offer. Cultural work is at least as important. Cyntia particularly enjoyed the concert by a German jazz group. The array of cultural events is as diverse as the arts in Germany: a Gerhard Richter exhibition of original works at the National Museum was certainly one of the cultural highlights of the year 2009 in La Paz. A seminar on migration was held recently by a German professor as well as a workshop with a graffiti artist from Leipzig, which ended triumphantly with a mural painted on a public wall in La Paz. “It’s not just a matter of showing the traditional arts from Germany; we want to present contemporary German culture and subculture as well,” explains Sigrid Savelsberg, director of the Goethe-Institut in Bolivia. As the oldest German institution, the Goethe-Institut also promotes artists who deal with German cultural assets. “For example, there was a director who wished to put on a play by Roland Schimmelpfennig. Naturally, this is the kind of thing we support.” Sometimes, practical things are offered, for instance a seminar in which the participants learn to restore valuable documents.

Regional cooperation

To promote international cooperation in the arts, the Goethe-Institut organizes between 40 and 50 events in La Paz alone every year to which artists and intellectuals from Germany are invited. In order to keep costs for such events down, the visits are coordinated by the Goethe-Institut in São Paulo, which always organizes a tour of a number of institutes in South America for the guests.

Photo gallery: Sights to see in and around La Paz

The institutes in Brazil, Argentina and Chile are far larger than the branch in Bolivia and reach a considerably larger number of people who are interested in Germany and its culture and language. All in all, the Goethe-Instituts in South America have approximately 21,000 registrations every year for their two-month German courses. Hence, about 8,400 people learn German this way each year; most of them take successive courses. General interest in learning German is increasing throughout all of South America due to globalization.

In addition to German courses and cultural work, further training for South American German teachers is another major mission of the Goethe-Instituts. “We hold seminars and send teachers to Germany on scholarships so they can stay up to date about what’s happening in Germany and convey a contemporary image of Germany in their classes,” explains Sigrid Savelsberg. “Because there is nothing more dull that a teacher who’s always talking about what life was like 20 years ago.”

The library is the heart of the centre

The Goethe-Institut library is an important facility not only for the teachers. “We have about 5,000 media here, which makes it a comparatively small library,” explains Sigrid Savelsberg. Of course, the shelves hold works by Goethe, but also by Michael Ende, Erich Kästner, Ingrid Noll, Martin Walser and comic book artist Tom Körner. The latest issues of fifteen selected magazines, such as Spiegel, Stern, Die Zeit and Art are always displayed here, as well. It is also possible to borrow German films here: silent films from the 1920s, works from New German Cinema such as Werner Herzog and Rainer Werner Fassbinder and the very latest films by German directors. Goodbye Lenin and Alles auf Zucker are especially popular. The latest attraction is the computers, which network the little library with the world and turn it into a small media centre. Quite a few Germans who are in La Paz for their studies or their work can find plenty of fresh supplies for long reading evenings. The library is the heart of the institute for the German learners, too. “At first, I wasn’t really confident enough to approach German books,” recalls Cyntia. “But, then I began with children’s books and am now working my way up to my first adult book.“ If things go as she plans, Cyntia will be able to begin her master studies in Germany in autumn 2010. “Preferably in Berlin,” she sighs, “I’ve already heard and read so much about it here at the Goethe-Institut that I just have to go there at least once.”