Rainer Pollack am 10. November 2023
Rede von Rainer Pollack anlässlich des 60. Jubiläums des Goethe-Instituts Helsinki

"Turvallisuutta ei saavuteta aitoja pystyttämässä, vaan turvallisuutta saadaan avaamalla portteja."
- Urho Kekkonen

Dear Ambassador Arz von Straussenburg,
Dear Mrs. von Ruckteschell-Katte,
Dear Ms. Bark,
Dear guests and friends of the Goethe-Institut,
Dear colleagues,

On behalf of the Goethe-Institut I would like to welcome you warmly here today. I started with a quote from former Finnish President Urho Kaleva Kekkonen: Security is not achieved by erecting fences, security is gained by opening gates.
I am delighted that you are all here today to celebrate the 60th birthday of the Goethe-Institut Finnland.
Our doors have been open for 60 years!
We are celebrating the birthday of an institute that has helped to make this significant international exchange work for decades on the German side, and we are taking part in it.

The turmoil caused by the Corona Pandemic threw our lives in chaos and thus we overlooked some of the crises that were and are still going on in the world. Now that we overcame Corona we notice that large parts of the world are in uproar.

By putting up physical and ideological gates, we create barriers that can potentially protect us from threats. However, this can also lead to an atmosphere of fear and mistrust. It can lead to people distancing themselves from each other. Closing themselves off. Many people experience this demarcation personally.

However, our decades of work have taught us that true security is not achieved through separation and isolation, but through openness and cooperation.
The quote challenges us to open our doors and create connections to foster a sense of safety in our relationships and in the world at large.
Through its work, the Goethe-Institut contributes to creating security in the sense of the quote. It promotes understanding between different cultures. It creates a basis for an open and tolerant society:
In dialogue with the world. For diversity, understanding and trust.

How did the Goethe-Institut in Finland get started in 1963?
The Goethe-Institut's first activities in Finland began much earlier! With the establishment of German courses and the training of German teachers at the (Jyväskylä) Jüväsküla College of Education in 1956.

What motivated the Goethe-Institut to go to Finland? To reconnect with the centuries-old cultural relations between Finland and Germany at a time of the Cold War!

Courses in German as a foreign language had been offered by the German school in Helsinki on behalf of the Goethe-Institut for several years, and there is till today also a German library in the Finnish capital.

With the founding of a "branch office of the German Institute Helsinki" in Turku and Tampere, there were four Goethe-Instituts in Finland for a short time.

In addition to promoting the German language, the aim was to make German culture come alive in Finland. And German could and can be learned everywhere in Finland: at schools, universities and other higher education institutions, at adult education facilities and from private providers. From the outset, the emphasis was on supporting German teachers in the country.

The third area of work was the "information centre": the communication of information from and about Germany using the media available at the time - the printed word, the sound carriers record and tape as well as the image carriers film and slide.


The current work of the Goethe-Institut Finland together with our partners is focused on the following areas:
- Promoting the German language, the valuable cooperation with the education authorities, the Finnish-German associations and cultural centres in the country and, of course, the German Embassy should be particularly emphasised. Thank you very much for your great support!
- The PASCH schools, many other schools and universities in the country are also part of this large "German" partner network.
"Wunderbar yhdessä" -The nationwide German language weeks are currently running! Soon, the so-called "Career Days" will start in Tampere and Oulu to promote German in studies and work.
Isn't that marvellous?

And isn't it fascinating when you read picture books to your amazed children or grandchildren and they know much better what's coming next? Big outcry when you misread.

In the area of library work, the DRIN (DIVERSITY, REPRESENTATION, INCLUSION, CRITIQUE OF NORMS) project promotes variety and diversity in children's books. Illustrators, writers and other experts from the Nordic countries and Germany work together in writing workshops. This results in a fruitful, cross-national exchange and valuable discussions.

We face up to our past! For example together with partners, the Goethe-Institut Helsinki traces the cultural heritage of the Sámi in Finland and Germany.

With a clear awareness of ecological threats, we want to position ourselves more sustainably as an organization.
We are overjoyed!
We received the Ekko Kompassi certificate in Finland last year.

In response to the war in Ukraine, the Ukraine Solidarity Residencies Programme was founded in Finland in March 2022. The Goethe-Institut Helsinki is part of this network.
As part of the EUNIC cluster, an association of European cultural institutes, we also promote European diversity and cooperation in Finland together with our European partners, for example as part of European Film Weeks or the European Day of Multilingualism.

It cannot be emphasised often enough: our heartfelt thanks go to our Finnish partners and institutions. Thank you for allowing us to be guests here in Finland.
We would also like to thank our European cultural partners, the Netzwerk Deutsch and the embassies of Switzerland and Austria.

We also enjoy your support: thanks to the German Embassy and the Federal Foreign Office for their trusting dialogue.

Let's remember the quote: security is not achieved by erecting fences, security is gained by opening gates.

Imagine that the Goethe-Institut Helsinki would not be what it is today, without its self-confident staff it would be unimaginable. The institute lives through you, a big and heartfelt thank you to all alumni and to our dear colleagues at the Goethe-Institut Finland - the Goethe-Institut: these are its employees! And they open doors!

I wish all of us a pleasant evening with insightful conversations and inspiring encounters.

Let us toast with heartfelt thanks and hopeful visions for our shared future!