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INTERVIEW
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50 YEARS OF THE GOETHE INSTITUTE IN SERBIA FRANK BAUMANN
Director of the Goethe Institute
With cultural exchange comes invaluable added value
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he Goethe Institute is a reliable and useful organization for learning the German language, getting education and for Serbia and Germany engaging in cultural affairs. We talked with the Director of the Goethe Institute, Frank Baumann, about the work that the Institute has been doing for the past fifty years since its establishment in Serbia and the cultural cooperation between our two countries.
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The Belgrade-based Goethe Institute was formed in 1970. What are the results of half a century of cooperation so far? Fifty years is a long time, but cultural relations between Serbia and Germany are, of course, much older. For instance, the correspondence between Vuk Karadžić and Johann Wolfgang Goethe, dates back from 1823. Since 1970, our Belgrade office had a chance to witness significant changes in both countries - from the multiethnic, socialist Yugoslavia to modern, independent Serbia, from West Germany’s half nation
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to a united country in the heart of Europe – there have been long and winding roads here and there. On the operational level, as a cultural institution, it’s all about the exchange, language and knowledge. It’s about people and societies, people wanting to see this world and their place in it,
IN TERMS OF ANNUAL PRODUCTION OF NEW BOOKS, GERMANY RANKS 6TH AMONG 87 COUNTRIES how they want to live, how we organize our common spaces, in Serbia, Germany, Europe and everywhere. The Goethe Institute has gained good reputation as we are viewed as a reliable, open, useful, easily accessible and financially independent organization for language, education and
cultural affairs between Serbia and Germany. You should also ask this our Serbian partners both from civil society and from the state sector, with whom we have been cooperating for a long time. Last but not least, there are our clients, like numerous students of language and library users. I hope that their replies will not fundamentally differ. You can always do better, of course, or to quote a German phrase, “standing still means taking a step back”. We are looking into the future with hope that cultural relations between our countries will continue to be good in the next 50 years too. During the 2020 pandemic, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Federal Republic of Germany and the Goethe Institute in Serbia decided to launch a fund for short-term international assistance to artistic institutions that contribute to the strengthening of a pluralistic society. Which projects have been implemented and which organizations have received assistance with the support of this fund?