2. THE OTHER GERMANY

What is Germany?
This is a question the Goethe-Instituts are trying to solve.
The answer is determined by the following two factors:
which topics should a German cultural institute tackle
and - even more important - who are the people
who travel the world to speak for Germany?

Very early on the Goethe-Institut adopted
the artistic traditions of the Weimar Republic
which had been suppressed by the Nazis.
With the aid of this "other Germany" and her
mostly liberal left-wing successors it tried to get
the Federal Republic back on speaking terms
with the rest of the world.

The institute's critical view of its own country
won the recognition of foreign contacts and partners.
It was seen as an attempt to give Germany an identity
which clearly distanced itself from its National Socialist past.

National politics only supported this form of
international dialogue to a certain extent.
For decades there were often those who called for
a more positive representation of Germany.

Since the end of the Bonn republic
this antagonism has ceased.
German language and German culture
are now strong voices in the European community.