Goethe-Institut Washington 1990-2025

Film is perhaps the most accessible medium to explore another culture. Since 1992, the Goethe-Institut has featured new releases from Germany and German-speaking countries and has brought many emerging and established filmmakers to the US. This initiative led to the creation of the brand FILM NEU. Initially, films were screened at major art house theaters such as the AFI, the Kennedy Center, the Key Theatre in Georgetown, and Visions on Dupont. E-Street Cinema became the home of German film until about 2019.

Although many of these theaters and cinemas do not exist anymore, German film continues to thrive on the screen and our sister festivals, Berlin & Beyond in San Francisco and German Currents in Los Angeles, continue to provide us with valuable inspiration.











 

Nigerian-born artist Mo Edoga began collecting driftwood along the Rhine River in 1988, after massive floods had hit the Rhine Valley. His works were showcased at Documenta IX in Kassel in 1992. The Goethe-Institut brought Edoga to the US capital, where. with the help of volunteers and school groups from Northern Virginia and Maryland, the artist created a massive, temporary wooden artwork on the banks of the Potomac River.





 

The “Pride of Baltimore II” and the Cyberclipper: As a modern “Baltimore Clipper” sailed across the Atlantic from Baltimore to Hamburg, students and teachers of German were invited to follow the journey online and interact with scientists and artists. This initiative was conducted in cooperation with the Contemporary Museum Baltimore.




Further event this year: Voice as a Bridge: A Quartet of Contemporary German Poets. As a result of our longstanding cooperation and event series with the Library of Congress (“The Poet and the Poem from the Library of Congress”), the Goethe-Institut offices in Washington and Seattle, together with Literarisches Colloquium Berlin, published a multimedia package on young American and German poets. Remarkably, 28 years after its publication, the book is still available for purchase online!

To celebrate the 250th birthday of Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, the Goethe-Institut organized a multitude of events around the globe. As a tribute to Goethe and the diverse international community in Washington, the institute hosted a marathon reading of his work Die Wahlverwandtschaften (Elected Affinities) in many languages.
The fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989 was commemorated and celebrated with a series of events at the Newseum, a former museum in Washington, DC.






 

German-speaking immigrants to the United States were so numerous that you can find their influence everywhere: in the built environment, in journalism, in politics, in the arts. Washington's German-speaking community had an enormous impact and presence, particularly where the Goethe-Institut had its Washington office. German businesses, houses of worship, architects, artists, and residents left an indelible mark on what was Washington’s principal business and shopping district in the 19th and early 20th centuries. Their influence continues to shape the nation's capital today.

Learn more here. 









 

"Working for the Goethe-Institut Washington meant to me: Listening and connecting cultures. I remember my time at the Goethe-Institut Washington as a constant learning process.“ Sylvia Blume

Considered Response: In the wake of September 11, the Goethe-Institut and other cultural institutes organized a series of events to discuss how culture could and should respond to terrorism, and whether culture could play a role in preventing it.

On May 1, eight Eastern European countries, along with Malta and Cyprus, joined the European Union. To celebrate this expansion, the European Delegation kick-started the European Film Festival in close cooperation with the Goethe-Institut. The festival was held – where else – at the Goethe-Institut and continues to this day, now at the AFI, showcasing new and otherwise unknown films from all over Europe.








 

The 2006 FIFA World Cup took place in Germany and was held under the motto "A time to make friends." Italy won the tournament in the final against France in a penalty shootout.

Further events this year: 

Max Liebermann: Works on Paper. Exhibition, 2006. Modern Art and Modern Germany

The National Gallery of Art showcased works by German impressionist artist Max Liebermann and captivated US art lovers. The Goethe-Institut and the American Goethe Society collaborated with the gallery to present in series of lectures, workshops, and the publication of a book. Curated by Prof. Marion Deshmukh.
TOP moves to Washington: In its fifth year since inception, the Transatlantic Outreach Program (TOP) relocated from Atlanta, GA, to Washington, DC. TOP engages social studies teachers nationwide through study trips to Germany, on-site and later digital seminars. TOP presents a modern and up-to-date image of Germany  to make “Germany interesting again” for classroom teaching. The program continues to thrive today, supported by Deutsche Bank, Siemens, the German Federal Foreign Office, and the Goethe-Institut, which also manages the project.




 

This year was marked by the 25th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall. Notable events included: 

• The Role of Artists and the Arts in Creative Placemaking. Symposium in Baltimore with the Baltimore Office of Promotion and the Arts and EUNIC

• Lords of the Valley: Roleplaying simulation game related to climate concerns. One of several events the Goethe-Institut hosted that utilized games as a medium to discuss broader issues. With the Embassy of Poland, Centre for Systems Solutions, and Worldwatch Institute.

• Blue Note @75: Blue Note Records films, exhibition. With the German Historical Institute, Kennedy Center, and other organizations

• 25 Years Fall of the Berlin Wall – The Wall in our Heads – American, German, Current Perspectives
  
   

Following the attacks on the French magazine Charlie Hebdo, the Goethe-Institut and EUNIC organized a series of panels in cooperation with New York University. The panels featured prominent figures such as Salman Rushdie, Slavaj Zsiszek, and others, debating  the importance of freedom of speech, intercultural differences, and the role of religion in the 21st century.

Learn more here. 







 

"A week after my arrival, Donald Trump was elected. We had to move out of K Street, so searching for new premises, co-designing and moving into them was of prime importance. Then came Wunderbar Together. And then came Covid. That was when I got to know the city really well. Then came January 6. Those were difficult, sometimes terrible times, and they were good times because of a circle of wonderful friends and colleagues (and a foosball table)." Andreas Ströhl


“Digital Eye @BlindWhino” was an exciting, interactive event that merged theater, film, and a live game show to explore how the Digital Age affects our everyday lives. As technology moves towards a more intimate experience with its users, we find our private lives becoming commodities for a global market of data-miners, phishers, and hackers. Our private selves— what we watch, what we like, where we go —can all be used overtly or covertly to influence our actions. This rang true in 2017 and is even more relevant in 2025!

As part of Wunderbar Together, the Goethe-Institut sent its „WanderbUS“ on a nationwide tour across the continental United States. The WanderbUS was a travelling show and mobile exhibit that visited high schools, universities, and public events. A small team of education professionals performed entertaining and informative programs at each stop. The aim of the WanderbUS was to provide an entertaining and informative introduction to German culture, the German language, and the many facets of German-American friendship. After 2019 the WanderbUS transitioned to the digital space and continues to this day to entertain and inform students across the US.

Learn more here. 











 

As the pandemic persisted, the institute developed a fun and educational new platform: a transatlantic podcast that explored abstract concepts and phenomena through personal radio essays. In each episode, one of our producers transformed a broad topic into a captivating story told from a U.S.-German perspective.

Originally part of Wunderbar Together, the Big Ponder was established in cooperation with radio PRX and continued until 2022.

Learn more here. 









 

“I began my tenure in Washington under challenging circumstances, facing the dual need to re-engage audiences post-pandemic and navigate very tight budgets. In times of a perceived growing distance between the US and Germany, our work here is more relevant than ever. We now aim to better serve partners and audiences across the entire US while maintaining strong local roots.” Klaus Krischok 

As part of the institute’s focus on memory the Goethe-Institut brought to light one the rare and heroic instances of public protest against the Nazi regime: the women of the Rosenstraße in Berlin, who demanded the release of their husbands from imprisonment.
Learn more about this project here. 

This is also the year we launched the new online magazine Gegenüber. 

What is the state of the transatlantic friendship in 2024? What moves us on both sides ofthe Atlantic? Are we still friends or are we turning into competitors? We posed these and many more questions to numerous German journalists in Washington, D.C. and other U.S. cities, and paired them with counterparts from the Washington Post, the New Yorker, the Boston Globe, and other U.S. publications.

The often surprising results of these debates can still be followed on our new online magazine Gegenuber: Foreign Correspondent.










 

GOLD, the acronym for our German Online Language Department, is celebrating its anniversary. Recognizing that students in the post-pandemic era prefer to learn German from the comfort of their homes, and online, we have transitioned from in-house courses to investing  invest more in our digital offerings. Whereas our former clientele came from a 10-15 miles radius, we now proudly reach German language enthusiasts from Alaska to Maine, Hawaii to Florida, and of course, Washington, D.C.