- Third Goethe-Institut in Russia opened -

Tomorrow (13 March) Martin Kobler, Head of the Directorate-General for Culture and Communication at the Federal Foreign Office, and Professor Klaus-Dieter Lehmann, President of the Goethe-Institut, will open a new Goethe-Institut in Novosibirsk. Novosibirsk will be the Institut's third location in Russia in addition to Moscow and St Petersburg. The opening will be part of the Goethe-Institut's sibSTANCIJA_09 festival.

Commenting on tomorrow's opening, Federal Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier issued the following statement today (12 March) in Berlin:

“The opening of a new Goethe-Institut represents the many successes - large and small - that the Federal Foreign Office and the Goethe-Institut have achieved over the past three years with support from the German Bundestag. Together we have been able to reform the Goethe-Institut as an institution and bolster it with significantly greater financial resources. At the same time, we have expanded the Goethe-network worldwide: In addition to two new institutes in Africa, we are now opening a third in Russia. We can certainly say that the Goethe-Institut is once again the flagship of our cultural relations and education policy!”

The Goethe-Institut is the largest agent of cultural relations and education policy. In 2009, the Federal Foreign Office is financing the Goethe-Institut with 208 million euro (2007 budget was 181 million euro). It is charged with fostering and teaching the German language worldwide, communicating a holistic and contemporary image of Germany and supporting and expanding cultural exchange.