Sprache. Kultur. Deutschland.

We promote the study of German abroad and encourage international cultural exchange.

entire background motif is a colorful palm plant, silouette of a person in the foreground is enveloped by the same background motif

© Caio Lirio © Caio Lirio

158

Goethe-Instituts are active in 98 countries.

12

of the institutes are in Germany.

1952

the first Goethe-Institut opened in Athens.

4,060

employees are at work worldwide.

70 years of the Goethe-Institut

Timeline

A quick dip

Explore the history of the Goethe-Institut and discover surprising, curious, and exciting moments from 70 years of cultural and language work worldwide.

Kultursymposium Weimar 2019

© Jörg Gläscher

digitisation

Through the Ages

The Goethe-Institut’s 70-year history is also a story of technical transformation and progress, of the first language labs and futuristic computer art to TikTok lessons and virtual reality in libraries.

Sprachlerner mit Kopfhörern

Foto: Michael Friedel

global network

In the world

The Goethe-Institut has more than 150 locations in the world. They tell of lived history: Over the decades, they have overcome political upheavals, crises and natural disasters.

The Goethe-Institut Cairo with the Goethe-Garten.

Photo: Roger Anis

German Language

Quick access

in the background, a brick building and a bicycle, which leans against a railing, are blurred; in the foreground two men whose faces are shown with dark hair and beards, to the right in front of the men a woman with blonde dutt, whose face you can not see, she wears a blue sports jacket and black handle bag, where green water bottle looks out

© Goethe-Institut/ Sonja Tobias

German Courses
Exams

Learn German

Find a Goethe-Institut nearby or discover our online offers.

or

Discover online courses

Exam locations worldwide

Find a Goethe-Institut or partner institutions nearby.

Where we encounter one another

How the Goethe-Institut´s learning platform gained special importance as a virtual place of encounters.

in the background you can see a website of the Goethe-Institut, on the left a topic overview, next to it a larger picture with a woman sitting in front of the computer wearing a headset; in the foreground is a hand holding a magnifying glass and pointing to the website font "Online Live Sessions", which thus appears enlarged

© Goethe-Institut

German language digital

The coronavirus made conventional language work practically impossible. It was time to take new pathways.

Eine Frau und ein Mann zeichnen Roboter an eine Tafel.

© Colourbox.com

Culture

Quick access

an evening sky bathed in blue and purple with palm trees and plants in the foreground, these are black with lighter accents that make them appear like shadows

© Misha Vallejo 2015

What we learn from the pandemic

For a year and a half now the whole world has been preoccupied with a virus. We have experienced the global, if somewhat staggered, nature of the pandemic in multiple phased waves. And already early in the beginning of the global crisis a question emerged: What can we learn from this catastrophe? In five thematic modules, the project “Lockdown Lessons” searches for answers on a global scale.

Key Visual: Lockdown Lessons

Photo (detail): © John Simitopoulos

We encourage culture

We build bridges between culture, education and science and rely on the power of art, which poses questions and opens up new modes of access.

International Relief Fund

The International Relief Fund supports cultural organisations abroad in dealing with the effects of the pandemic.

Let the spark fly and hold on to it. Outreach Foundation Johannesburg

Photo (detail): © Earl Abrahams

Residence Programs

Worldwide, we enable cultural professionals to realize their work and to deal with new people and cultures.

Residence programs

Author: San Jose, 27 November 2006, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=1483026, Änderungen vorgenommen

Network

The Goethe-Institut is represented by 158 institutes in 98 countries around the world. In 1952 the first Goethe-Institut opened in Athens.

World Map with locations of Goethe-Institut

Career

Career

We will show you what we stand for as an employer and as a globally active cultural institute and what we offer you. Get to know us! We are the Goethe-Institut.

Karriere

© Goethe-Institut

Press

We inform you about projects and events happening at the branches of the Goethe-Institut around the world.

Newsletter

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