MURNAU MANILA MINSK
50 YEARS OF THE GOETHE-INSTITUT

Introduction

50 years of the Goethe-Institut stand for
50 years of international dialogue,
50 years of German cultural and educational policy abroad and also 50 years of German cultural history.

Studying the history of the Goethe-Institut is tantamount
to studying the changing rapprochement
between Germany and the rest of the world.

At the institute's founding in 1951 the name Goethe headed the agenda; concentrating on the positive achievements in Germany's cultural history was meant to instil enthusiasm for the German language in non-German speakers.
This approach proved feasible and
the institutes in Germany flourished.

The first institutes were opened abroad.
It wasn't until the beginning of the 1960s, however,
that a worldwide network of institutes was established;
the Foreign Office had acknowledged the success of this
non-governmental form of cultural and educational work and
from this point forward heavily sponsored the Goethe-Institut.

It became the German cultural institution abroad.
At the same time the Goethe-Institut broadened its field of activity.
Language courses and further training for German teachers
are today offered by all the institutes in Germany and abroad.

For 40 years all kinds of cultural events
have supplemented the basic programme at institutes abroad.
A new form of dialogue thus evolved.
Personal encounters of artists and intellectuals and their work became the main medium of cultural exchange.
With the collapse of the Eastern Block in 1989/90
the Goethe-Institut's work focus shifted.

Prior to this date activities centred on conveying
the democratic and pluralist values of a Federal Republic
which distanced itself from Nazi Germany and the GDR.
Reunification of the two German states now requires that the
new, larger Germany is expressed intelligibly to the rest of the world.