The Latest at Goethe

It was a party to be proud of: The Goethe-Institut celebrated it’s sixtieth anniversary in Berlin by looking back at a changeful history. There have been successes, travails and scandals, not to mention a memorable encounter in the Alps.

An alpine meadow in the 1950s backed by a magnificent mountain panorama. A group of hikers from all over the world approaches an old man with an alpine hat and a pipe. A young Iranian woman asks in German, “Excuse me, how far is it to the next town?” His reply is, “So oanahoib Stund.” The woman seems confused and asks, “Wie bitte?” A man in a chequered shirt intervenes and explains, “It’s dialect. He means one and one half hours.” The old man protests, “Des hob’ i ja gsogt.” (“But, that’s what I said!”)

It was a scene from the short film Lida lernt Deutsch by the young Edgar Reitz, which amused guests at the 60th anniversary ceremony of the Goethe-Institut Tuesday evening in Berlin. It is a look at the distant past of an otherwise very present institution. Reitz, who would later become famous for such films as his family saga Heimat, had been asked to make a promotional film to motivate international students for language courses at the Goethe-Institut. Now, his images were part of the sixty-minute film Around the World with Goethe, in which filmmaker Maren Niemeyer looks back at the sixty year history of the institute.

It was not without pride that the cultural institute celebrated its anniversary this evening with approximately one thousand guests from the arts and politics at the Berlin Gemäldegalerie. Institute president Klaus-Dieter Lehmann first looked back on a changeful history lasting six decades – from the “unusual decision of the young Federal Republic to place foreign cultural and educational policy in the hands of an independent organization,” to the upgrading of foreign cultural policy under Willy Brandt all the way to today’s Goethe model, which is successful even in countries of the former Eastern Bloc. Admittedly, over the years the institute not only experienced the lightness of being, but also the hard slog. He therefore not only called upon the image of the third pillar of foreign policy, but also that of the fifth wheel.

Scandals with Goethe

The merits of the Goethe-Institut were also praised by Guido Westerwelle. “The fact that Germany is esteemed all over the world today,” said the Foreign Minister, “would not be the case if not for the outstanding work of the Goethe-Institut.” The FDP politician’s wish for the future: “We have to make people curious about Germany. We must attract people from very different cultural backgrounds.”

The Goethe-Institut’s independence also had a price for politicians in the past. Lehmann recalled scandals, for example in 1974 when the Goethe-Institut organized an exhibition in London by Klaus Staeck with provoking posters of Franz Josef Strauss. He was not amused about it. Yet, the Goethe-Institut never bowed before the powerful. Staeck still has close ties with the institute today and was one of the evening’s guests of honour. “Art is not apolitical,” stressed Lehmann.

It was a perfect segue to the words of Fadhel Jaibi. “Art is never innocent,” said the Tunisian director who gave the commemorative speech of the evening and reported about the Jasmine Revolution in his homeland. “I don’t really like the name,” he admitted. “Jasmine withers too quickly. Perhaps we should have named the revolution the Cactus Revolution. Cacti also have lovely blossoms...but they’re prickly, too.” Jaibi demanded, “Art may not be put to the service of the strongest. It is there for protesting.” Art and education are the foundations of a society. “Art is no luxury. It’s not the cherry on the cake.” His closing demand – that the budget of the Goethe-Institut should in fact be tripled – made him many new friends. The entire auditorium – all but the foreign minister – applauded.

The best part of the evening took place under open skies and was open to all Berliners. Singer Jens Friebe held a concert entitled An Evening Full of Happiness – a fitting title, Lehmann felt. In addition, Around the World with Goethe was shown in the outdoor cinema at the Kulturforum. It not only looks at the cultural, but also the language work of the institute and acquainted the viewers with insights like that of Nina Hagen: “Deutsch lernen isn’t that terribly complicated, is ganz einfach, even I managed to learn it.”


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