The Goethe-Institut has been present in Malaysia since 1962 and plays an important role in Malaysian-German cultural exchange. In 2022, we celebrate the past 60 years with our partners and lay the foundations for the future.
Dear partners and friends of the Goethe-Institut Malaysia,
We are celebrating this year the 60th anniversary of the Goethe-Institut in Malaysia. We cordially invite all those partners who have accompanied us during these exciting six decades, and likewise all those who would like to get to know our work better, to share this special moment with us in a series of encounters and events.
Not long after Malaysia's independence, our institute started its work in Lorong Thambi Abdullah in Brickfields / Kuala Lumpur. The first German courses were offered at Universiti Malaya. Shortly after, German has been taught not only at the university, but also at schools and other educational institutions in Malaysia. Thus, the interest in German culture also grew and "ten classical concerts later", as we know from the archives of the New Straits Times, the Goethe-Institut moved to Jalan Langgak Golf, and finally in 2010 to the See Hoy Chan building on the busy Jalan Tun Razak, where it can still be found today.
Over the decades, the Goethe-Institut Malaysia has fulfilled its main mission: conducting language courses, offering trainings for German language teachers as well as building a network of partner schools, engaging in educational and cultural programs that promote intellectual exchange, intercultural dialogue and diverse forms of artistic expression with local partner institutions, ultimately contributing to the further development and strengthening of civil society and democratic structures in the host country.
I invite you to take a journey through time with us and explore the six decades of our work in our digitally available timeline.
Valuable references that bring our identity and history to life are the greetings of long-standing partners with whom we would like to continue to share our ideas about language and cultural work in Malaysia. It is to all of them that we owe our special position in the cultural landscape of Malaysia, and the prospects of expanding our work as a language and cultural institution. We are grateful for this intensive, intellectual and human exchange that has grown over the years.
‘This year must always remain dear to me in memory, because of beautiful results’, wrote Goethe on his 60th birthday, looking back with satisfaction on the past year 1809, in which he completed his novel 'The Elective Affinities'. It was part of the poet's personal tradition to take stock at the end of each year, to complete one of his works and to set his sights on new and stimulating things for the coming year.
The anniversary year 2022 should also be a good memory for us! Because we are celebrating it with a series of events that you can discover on the website. The diversity of these events reflects the entire spectrum of our activities past and present: film, music, dance-theater, exhibition, but also radio sessions and a specially designed anniversary website.
Enjoy exploring and discovering these real and virtual worlds!
