Johannes Ebert am 02. Dezember 2022 in London
60 Jahre Goethe-Institut London

Grußwort von Johannes Ebert zur Jubiläumsveranstaltung 60 Jahre Goethe-Institut London

I’m not very fond of themed parties. My colleague Katharina Ruckteschell-Katte informed me about tonight’s theme which is “The Sixties”. Party Stress! What to wear? What did people wear in the sixties?
 
I found myself doing internet research: The last few years of the sixties were very colourful, reflecting the clothes of the Hippie-Era. In the early years of the sixties, which we’re talking about today, the clothes were quite conventional. The hairstyles – although I don`t have much room for creativity here – were a bit more unusual.

The most famous haircut in the early the sixties was of course what we call in German the “Pilzkopf”, literally translated: “Mushroom head”. In English-speaking countries, the term “Moptop” was used to describe the famous Beatles hairstyle, which was in fact invented in Hamburg!

The Beatles bass player, Stuart Sutcliffe, got the first Moptop haircut in Hamburg in 1961. His girlfriend, the photographer Astrid Kirchherr, cut his hair. But the “Pilzkopf” was invented by the German photographer Jürgen Vollmer. In October 1961 he cut the hair of Paul McCartney and John Lennon in a hotel room in Paris, and thus had his fair share of what we later called “Beatlemania”. Paul McCartney remembered the decisive day:

“… To get back to the haircut. I should know! We saw a guy in Hamburg, whose hair we liked. John and I were hitchhiking to Paris. We asked him to cut our hair like he did his. He was living in Paris. He was sort of an artsy guy, a photographer friend of everyone. His name was Jürgen. Jürgen had a flattened-down hairstyle with a fringe in the front, which we rather took to. We went over to his place and there and then he cut – hacked would be a better word – our hair into the same style.”

Lieber Herr Botschafter, lieber Scott, liebe Gäste: What a remarkable story of German-British Cultural Exchange in the early 1960s!

At about the same time as the “Pilzkopf” another remarkable – maybe even more remarkable and long-lasting - milestone in British-German Cultural Exchange took shape. The milestone whose sixtieth Birthday we are celebrating today: The Goethe-Institut in London was founded! What a wonderful, open and colourful place!

From the beginning the Goethe-Institut played a strong role in the continuously closer-growing good relations between Germany and the UK. Sixty years at Number 51 and 50 years at Number 50 Prince’s Gate, in Exhibition Road. The Federal Republic of Germany underlined the importance of language and culture by acquiring the neighboring building in 1972 and giving it to the Goethe-Institut. This commitment was renewed with the renovation work done to the building in 2012.  In 1972 and 73, the legendary “Gallery House” opened next door to number 50. Gallery House was an art space which was visited by stars like Yoko Ono or Eric Clapton and is an important reference point for the arts scene in that era.

60 years of the library – this beautiful space – providing a home not only to readers of the 13.000 books and students of German, but also for book clubs, translators’ workshops, book launches, games, and, for the past two years, GILON – our library robot. And of course, the library hosts lots of networking events like this one. 

60 years of our language department not only offering language courses, but also everything that comes with learning about the culture and the country. This year we had 4.600 participants learning German at the Goethe-Institut and 2.270 exams in London – even more than before the pandemic.  

60 years of collaboration with British schools. Alone this year nearly 7.000 pupils participated in our events – some of them being football camps in St. Pauli or workshops on how to cook vegan food.

“We need to be speaking German”, said Nick Gibb, Minister of State at the Department for Education, while announcing the government’s new language hub initiative in England. Part of the scheme will be a “German promotion project”, aimed at increasing the number of teachers of the language. Schools minister Nick Gibb said: “It has never been more important for our pupils to be taught modern foreign languages”.

We didn’t do this alone. Our partners and supporters have been vital to the work and achievements mentioned above:
I would like to thank the German embassy – Thank you, Ambassador Berger, for co-hosting this reception party - and the other “German” partners, like the DAAD, the German Historical Institute, the German School, the UK-German Connection, the British-German Association and the British German Chamber of Commerce.

I would also like to thank the EUNIC-Network (European Union National Institutes for Culture).  Our neighbors – the Exhibition Road Cultural Group (I’m proud that Katharina Ruckteschell-Katte is on their executive board) – together with distinguished institutions like the V&A London, Royal Albert Hall, Natural History Museum, Imperial College, Royal College of Arts, Royal College of Music, Royal Geographic Society – and also cultural institutes like our friends at the Institut Francais or the Ismaili Centre – to name only our closest neighbors here in “Albertopolis”.

Together with our Austrian and Swiss partners and the Frankfurt Book Fair we can look back on 26 years of supporting “New Books in German” – a project promoting German-language literature for translation into English in the UK, USA, and beyond.

Together with the British Council – our “role model” – we have collaborations in the language department and the programme department in relation to colonial history and the “Cultural Bridge”-Partnership together with Sozio-Kulturfonds and Arts Councils UK.

With the Arts Council England and the Nordrhein-Westfalen-Kultursekretariat we fund European Dance Residencies in rural areas.

 “The Friends of the Goethe-Institut London” (Wirtschaftskreis) was established in 2017 as a collaboration between Bayern LB and Pan Macmillan – the Holtzbrinck Gruppe. Brochures and further information about the project can be found in the foyer.

And last but not least, all the other wonderful British partners in the fields of culture and education with whom we have worked during the last 60 years!!

On our 60th anniversary, we don’t only want to look back but also forward to the next 60 years. Are we in the future yet? What are the topics we need to address?

Europe (especially after Brexit): We are planning residencies in collaboration with Somerset House, PEN England, V&A and others.

Colonial past: On the topic of restitution, for example, we are planning a project together with other Goethe-Institutes in Europe and Africa.

New technologies: Blockchain, AI, quantum technology, social media. We will tackle these topics, for example with the Project Living in a Quantum State.

Climate crisis: Together with our partners in South Kensington we want to sustainably transform this unique neighborhood. An opportunity to inspire positive change around the world, and an opportunity for us to play our part in in keeping the critical 1.5 degrees COP target within reach. To be worthy of South Kensington’s founding ambition. 

And of course, in general: We want to bring citizens from Germany and Britain together and create trusting relationships. Queen Elisabeth II whose death was deeply mourned in Germany said: "stereotypes wither when human contacts flourish. We should continue to encourage our young people to know more about each other."

In her speech in 2015 during her last state visit to Germany she said: “The enthusiasm and interest our students and young people have for each other’s ideas and work is our greatest asset: the next generation is at ease with itself and with contemporaries across Europe in a way that was never the case before.”

These sound like golden years for Europe: But times have changed since 2015. After the attack by Russia on Ukraine, Europe and the world are facing new challenges. We face them daily. So when we talk about culture and education and the relations of Great Britain and Germany. What is of most importance today? What do we have to do?

In 1968, the end of the sixties, the theme of our evening, another young man came from a German provincial town to Hamburg. This young man was the drummer and singer Udo Lindenberg who became famous in Germany in the years to follow. Let me quote two lines from Udo Lindenberg’s song “Hinterm Horizont” – “Beyond the Horizon”

“Hinterm Horizont geht's weiter. Ein neuer Tag.
Hinterm Horizont immer weiter. Zusammen sind wir stark!“

Beyond the horizon life goes on. It’s a new day.
Beyond the horizon it goes on and on. Together we are strong.

Thank you.