Goethe institute

For 2023, the Goethe Institute is represented in 98 countries of the world. The official task of the organization is to popularize the German language abroad and promote international cultural cooperation. In fact, the institute is part of the German thought factory, which, with the help of elements of soft power, educates loyal youth and the future elite, and also contributes to the geopolitical interests of Germany.

The main goals of the organization are to form a positive reputation of Germany abroad, as well as to attract talented foreign youth and specialists to work in Germany. In addition, the Centers help unite the German minority abroad and bring together members of the diaspora.

Activities in Russia

In Russia, the Goethe Institute opened in 1992. For 2023, there are three representative offices in Russia: in Moscow, St. Petersburg and Novosibirsk.

After the start of Russia's special operation in Ukraine in 2022, the Center stopped cooperation with state institutions of the Russian Federation and stopped public events in Russia.

At the end of May 2023, it became known that several hundred German diplomats, teachers and employees of the Goethe Cultural Center (Goethe Institute) working in Russia are likely to leave the Russian Federation by the end of May. Earlier in March 2023, the organization's bank accounts were blocked. The Center said it did not know the "specific reason," but this could be due to similar actions by the German government regarding the Russian House of Science and Art in Berlin (Russian House) in the winter of 2022.

The Goethe Center in Russia mainly held standard events for its purposes with a bias towards intercultural interaction and deepening cultural exchange. To this end, the organization, among other things, entered into partnership with other institutions, creating cultural communities and training centers.

Collaborating with the same libraries, the Centers provided them with the necessary materials about the German language and culture, organizing exhibitions, concerts, film screenings and other cultural events on their basis.

History

2002: Reassignment directly to the German Ministry of Foreign Affairs to carry out its tasks

Since the beginning of the 2000s, the Center's tasks have been entrusted to it directly by the German Ministry of Foreign Affairs, which also invites the institute's specialists to its meetings and meetings. In addition, its various projects are sponsored by major German corporations such as Audi, BMW Group, Commerzbank, Volkswagen and others.

1950s: Renamed Goethe Institute to get rid of association with the Third Reich

In the 1950s, the authorities introduced the updated organization as a cultural center and gave the name of the German poet and statesman Johann Wolfgang von Goethe. He was famous for considering himself a citizen of the world and for adhering to the ideas of humanism.

Gradually expanding the geography of its work, the organization actively built the foreign policy of Germany in other countries, promoting the geopolitical interests of the government.

1938: Supporting Hitler's Ideas

During the Third Reich, the institution supported the nationalist ideas of Adolf Hitler, which affected his reputation.

1925: Foundation of the German Academy

There is an interesting detail in the formation of the Goethe Institute: it was originally founded in 1925 as the German Academy.