60 Years Treffpunkt Goethe
Timeline 1961-2021

The house of the Goethe-Institut under a blue sky. The house wall is white with sandstone edging at the corners. The shutters are dark green. There are 3 cars in the car park in front of the house, the Ledra Palace Hotel can be seen in the background.

1961

The Goethe-Institut Nicosia opens one year after the foundation of the Republic of Cyprus.

1965

Exhibition on the city partnership of Karlsruhe and Nicosia.

Christoforos Savva stands on the right side of the entrance to his exhibition, looking at the camera. He is wearing suit trousers, a shirt and black shoes, his arms hanging loosely down. His hair is dark and he has a full beard. Some pictures of the exhibition hanging on the wall are vaguely visible through the open door. To the left of the door and above the door are plants.

May 1968

From 12 until 20 May 1968 an exhibition by Christoforos Savva is held in the event hall of the Goethe-Institut. This is his last exhibition before his death.
In the same year, Savva was one of the artists representing Cyprus in its first participation in the 1968 Venice Biennale. Cyprus' participation in the Venice Biennale in 2019 was based on his exhibition at the Goethe-Institut.

Video from the opening of the exhibition by Christoforos Savva

February 1971

An exhibition of works by established Cypriot artist Nikos Kouroussis is held at the Goethe-Institut's event hall in February 1971.

Four men and a woman carrying a white handbag stand in the foreground looking at photographs at the "World Exhibition of Photography" (1970). In the background are other visitors wearing elegant clothes.

May 1973

In May 1973 the Goethe-Institut organises the World Photography Exhibition in collaboration with the Nicosia Municipality and the Cyprus Society of Photography. It is held in the Nicosia City Hall and in Eleftheria Square (then Metaxa Square).

Video from the World Photography Exhibition at the Nicosia City Hall

Several participants in the fairy tale opera, men and women, stand on stage during the applause after the performance. In the foreground, two men stand facing the audience, holding one hand and pointing with their free arm in the direction of the other participants.

Christmas 1976

The Fairy Tale Opera Hansel and Gretel is performed at the Goethe-Institut with the choir and orchestra of the Ethnikon Odeon Kyprou. The set designer for this performance is Glyn Hughes.

1984

In February 1984 the Goethe-Institut organises a film series on Bertolt Brecht at the Famagusta Gate in collaboration with the Cypriot National Theatre and the Municipality of Nicosia. The film series is complemented by a photo and book exhibition in the library of the Goethe-Institut.

1987

The Goethe-Institut organises an exhibition on documenta 8 in October.

1991

The Goethe-Institut organises a seminar for teachers of German from both communities at the Ledra Palace Hotel.

1993

In collaboration with the Nicosia Municipality, the Ministry of Agriculture and the Association for the Protection of the Environment in Cyprus, the Goethe-Institut organises the exhibition To be or not to be on the industrial destruction of nature, from 1 until 16 June 1993at Famagusta Gate.

1995

An event with Cypriot dances, songs and music is held on 16 June 1995 at the Ledra Palace Hotel, with almost 1,000 visitors from both communities.

1998

The first European Dance Festival in Cyprus, organised by the Rialto Theatre and the Ministry of Education and Culture, is held in Nicosia with the participation of the Goethe-Institut. The following year, the dance theatre exhibition Dance Theatre Today: 30 Years of German Dance History is presented by the Goethe-Institut as part of the dance festival.

1999 / 2000

On 31 December 1999 the Goethe-Institut Nicosia is closed and on 1 January 2000 Ute Wörmann-Stylianou, Dorothea Ioannides and Ursula Karekla found the Goethe-Zentrum Nicosia.

2002

With the support of the Goethe-Zentrum, German teacher Johannes Patsalides travels to Germany in the summer with a group of German students from the Goethe-Zentrum and other schools and universities.

2003

On 23 April 2003 the checkpoint at Ledra Palace is opened and people are allowed to cross. With the support of the Turkish-Cypriot-German Cultural Association, Turkish Cypriots are able to take part in courses and examinations at the Goethe-Zentrum from the autumn.

2004

The Goethe-Zentrum, in cooperation with the Ministry of Education and Culture and the Music Department of the Goethe-Institut, initiates a concert by the Cyprus Youth State Orchestra and the Mannheim Youth Symphony Orchestra.

2007

Together with the Department of Computer Science of the University of Cyprus and with the support of the Embassy of the Federal Republic of Germany and the Telecommunications Authority of Cyprus, the Goethe-Zentrum organises the symposium Sustainability, Markets & Me–Innovations for the future on 2 February 2007.

On the occasion of the German Presidency of the Council of the European Union, the Goethe-Zentrum organises several events.

2009

The Goethe-Zentrum organises a series of events in cooperation with the Embassy of the Federal Republic of Germany to mark the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall.

The first exhibition of Go Ganesha Go – Elephants for Peace, an international participatory art movement initiated by Rose Marie Gnausch, takes place in Nicosia on both sides of the buffer zone. The project will continue until 2018.

Go Ganesha Go – Elephants for Peace | © Naturalmente RoMa art/peace initiative

January 2011

In January 2011, German Chancellor Angela Merkel visits the Goethe-Zentrum on the occasion of her trip to Cyprus. Students of the Goethe-Zentrum have the opportunity to talk to Chancellor Angela Merkel.

A man in a suit and a woman in a green dress holding a microphone beam at each other. They shake hands and are in a celebratory mood. Between the two people stand three women in smart evening dress who applaud the two. The five people are standing under a pergola, with the night sky in the background and a drum kit in the lower right corner.

June 2011

Transformation of the Goethe-Zentrum into a regular Goethe-Institut and ceremonial reopening of the Goethe-Institut Cyprus.

2013-2014

Several events are held at the Goethe-Institut with the negotiating delegations of both populations and with contributions from experts from Germany who report on the problems and procedures of German reunification.

2017

Paphos is the European Capital of Culture and the Goethe-Institut Cyprus participates in the official Pafos 2017 programme with a guest performance by Rimini Protokoll and a performance Myths and tales from across the divide by Achim Wieland and Marios Ioannou. The performers are Greek and Turkish Cypriots.

2018

The Goethe-Institut Cyprus introduces four-language communication on its website in order to consciously address and involve even more inhabitants of the island. In addition to German and English, communication is now also in Greek and Turkish.

From September 2018, the Goethe-Institut will also offer German lessons in Paphos.

At the microphone is Karin Varga, Director of the Goethe-Institut Cyprus, who gives an opening speech and stands with her back to the camera. The visitors sit on orange benches, which belong to an installation of the exhibition, or stand spread out in the room. They listen to the speech and sometimes hold brochures of the exhibition in their hands. Posters on the theme of Bauhaus hang on the walls, as does the exhibition on the work of the Cypriot architect Fivos Polydorides. The latter is standing on the right of the picture and is wearing a red pullover and a white shirt. His hair is white and he wears glasses.

2019

The Goethe-Institut celebrates the 100th anniversary of the founding of Bauhaus and organises a series of events including exhibitions, film screenings, a dance performance and a conference, which will take place in March and April.

The work of the Cypriot architect Fivos Polydorides will also be presented as part of the exhibition. On the occasion of the opening, Alexis Papadopoulos will talk to the 93-year-old architect, who himself studied with Bauhaus students, about the history of modern architecture in Cyprus. This is Fivos Polydorides' last exhibition before his death in September of the same year. The series of events is held in collaboration with the Faculty of Architecture of the University of Nicosia, with Echo Arts and Dance Gate Nicosia.

February 2020

The event hall of the Goethe-Institut is renovated and reopened with the first KunstRaumGoethe exhibition at the end of February.

Wooden blocks in a transparent plexiglass frame.

2020

In the context of the German presidency of the European Council, the project The Disappearing Wall takes place, celebrating European culture with a large collection of quotations and an interactive installation. In autumn, the wall is presented at two locations and on both sides of the Green Line: Faneromeni Square and Sarayönü Square. The third event planned for Limassol cannot take place due to rising infection figures at the end of November and will be presented in June 2021.

November 2020

Moving Silence takes place for the 10th time in Cyprus in collaboration with ARTos Foundation, but under different circumstances due to the pandemic. Nevertheless, an exchange between musicians and filmmakers is possible and the event is successfully held in physical and digital space.

From April to October 2021

From April to October 2021, the Goethe-Institut Cyprus will celebrate Beuys' 100th birthday with a series of events curated by Marina Christodoulidou, consisting of an artist workshop, an exhibition, film screenings and a conversation with Rhea Thönges-Stringaris, art historian and friend of Beuys.

2021

The Goethe-Institut is celebrating 60 years in Cyprus: first as the Goethe-Institut Nicosia from 1961 to 1999, then as the Goethe-Zentrum from 2000 to 2011 and from June 2011 again as the Goethe-Institut Cyprus.

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60 Years Treffpunkt Goethe Timeline 1961-2021