The Latest at Goethe

There are 149 Goethe-Instituts scattered across the globe. Sometimes we forget that a good dozen of them are located in Germany. An anniversary reminds us of the very special role they play.

“The Goethe-Institut Berlin was my godparent during a great existential transformation in autumn of 2000.” Stefano Zangrando chooses grand words for his friendly birthday greeting. It’s no wonder; he is an Italian writer. When he got to know the Goethe-Institut Berlin in the year 2000, he had just turned 27. He had learned a little German at school, but the native of Bolzano had never lived in a big city. His time in Berlin, writes Zangrando, was an enriching experience in every way.

Goethe-Institut? Berlin? For some, the combination may seem surprising. The Goethe-Institut, one might think, is supposed to be the German language and cultural institute abroad. Certainly Zangrando could have just as well taken a German course at the Goethe-Institut in Rome or Milan.

Yet where, if you can afford the luxury, can you learn a language better than in the country of its origins; where it surrounds you day and night and you are given the opportunity to immerse yourself in it? That is why there are Goethe-Instituts, 13 in number, in Germany, too. Of course, one of them is located in Berlin, the capital city. Yet, Goethe was there long before the government.

Indeed, the importance of the institutes in Germany goes beyond that of simple language courses. “In our worldwide network, the institutes are the key to Germany,” explains Klaus-Dieter Lehmann, president of the Goethe-Institut. “Successful formats and creative stimuli from the work of the Goethe-Instituts abroad that were gathered in very different cultural contexts enter Germany via the institutes in Berlin, Dresden or Munich.”

It started with twelve students

Lehmann has an example on hand: “The further training programme for Imams in Germany, for example, is linked to a preparatory course by the Goethe-Institut in Turkey.” The Goethe-Instituts in Germany are also important partners for other national and international cultural stakeholders and thus have played a pivotal role for intercultural dialogue in Germany. “In this context in particular, the Goethe-Institut in Berlin is a groundbreaker for our work in Germany.”

Today, our groundbreaker looks back at half a century of momentous history. It began in a mansion in the Grunewald district in 1960 with twelve language learners. In those days, it was quite a daring move to open a Goethe-Institut. New and dramatic incidents were possible any time in those days in Berlin and could have corresponding effects on the city’s appeal for foreign students. Only a year later, the Berlin wall was built.

Fifty years and four moves later, the institute has developed into an international teaching and meeting place for ten thousand guests every year in Berlin-Mitte. In addition to language learners – among them ambassadors, managers, politicians, artists, journalists as well as students and young professionals from all fields – there are also German teachers who are trained and further educated here. Even luminaries such as the Peruvian writer Mario Vargas Llosa and the former educational minister of France Jack Lang attended classes here. “The institute on Neue Schönhauser Strasse,” says Lehmann “is a wonderful place of learning, of sharing and of inspired discovery.”

Writer Zangrando says that, as a provincial foreigner, immersing himself in a different language and big city setting was the most fruitful experience he ever had. “In four months and two courses including a recreational and cultural programme, I learned far more than I had in ten years of school lessons. Unforgettable.”

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