1. GERMAN ON THE NILE

Language is the foundation. Language and, via language, literature
are the backbone of national culture and thus of cultural identity.
Language work at the Goethe-Institut is thus both the root and the
leitmotif of the institute's activities.

Through its language teaching in the 1950s the Goethe-Institut
tried to again win over foreign countries to Germany
and her cultural achievements.
Here, more than ever before, speaking the same language meant
talking to and getting to know each other.

At the same time teaching materials and advertising for German as
a foreign language illustrated how the Germans saw themselves.
Initially the literary classics and the appeal of the romantic landscape
were exploited to this end.
In the 1960s enthusiasm for technology from the country of the
Wirtschaftswunder was also evident in the classroom;
lessons taught using electronic devices became standard.

In the wake of the social change of the late 1960s
textbooks began to take a more self-critical approach.
Unemployment and pollution were among the new topics dealt with,
as was the role of women in society, for example.

Today the business factor is used to promote language;
speaking German improves job opportunities.