Walther von Goethe Foundation

Two people facing each other dancing in front of the audience

After the closure of the Goethe-Institut Reykjavík in March 1998, artist Wolfgang Müller founded the Ný Goethe-stofnun í Reykjavík in August 1998 together with the artist Ásta Ólafsdóttir. Elf and dwarf lore was taught, as well as the science of misunderstandings. After a legal dispute with the Goethe-Institut headquarters in Munich over trademark protection, Wolfgang Müller started calling the project Walther von Goethe Foundation. The four collaborators of the Walther von Goethe Foundation (from left to right: Wolfgang Müller, Ahmad Hamad, Richard Radzinski, An Paenhuysen) are sitting around a table, looking into the camera. In the centre there is a polygon shape, overgrown with moss.

The four collaborators of the Walther von Goethe Foundation (from left to right: Wolfgang Müller, Ahmad Hamad, Richard Radzinski, An Paenhuysen) are sitting around a table, looking into the camera. In the centre there is a polygon shape, overgrown with moss.

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In September 2022 the team from Walther von Goethe Foundation will gather at The Nordic House in Reykjavík for public research on several projects around ornithology, music, and tourism. During the week-long event, the team will explore migration and nationality together with children by asking the question: What is the nationality of birds? They will also work with local musicians to set compositions by the largely unknown Walther von Goethe to music, raising questions about success, meaning, and failure.

More details on how you can participate in the public research at The Nordic House will follow soon. Stay tuned!

Find out more about the team of Walther von Goethe Foundation: Wolfgang Müller, Ahmad Hamad, An Paenhuysen, and Richard Radzinski

My grandfather was a rooster, I am a [Odin's] chicken.

- Walther von Goethe