2nd NWU-JGU Collaborative Seminar in History

The NWU School of Social Sciences warmly invited to the second NWU-JGU Collaborative Seminar in History, presented by Jahn Lukas Hermann.

Jahn Lukas Hermann completed his studies in history and political science at Erlangen from 2016 to 2023, earning both bachelor's and master's degrees. Presently, he serves as a research assistant at Johannes Gutenberg University in Mainz. Since 2023, Hermann has been engaged in a research project funded by the German Research Foundation (DFG) focusing on the history of the Goethe-Institut, examining its role in promoting German culture abroad, particularly in Poland and South Africa, within the context of German foreign policy post-Berlin Wall and reunification. Read more

Topic - Tearing Down Walls with Cultural Diplomacy: The History of German Foreign Cultural Policy in South Africa and the Case of the Goethe-Institut Johannesburg.

Abstract

Foreign cultural policy is often referred to as the 'third pillar' of German foreign policy, a term coined by Willy Brandt, Foreign Minister and later Chancellor of the Federal Republic of Germany. While the economic and diplomatic contacts between the West German state and the apartheid regime in Pretoria have been explored, though by no means sufficiently, the politicization of culture in the context of German-South African relations during and after the apartheid era is uncharted territory. At first glance, a superficial reading of the history of German cultural diplomacy in South Africa would suggest a rather trivial interpretation: there was none. The Goethe-Institut in Johannesburg did not open its doors until 1995. End of story - or perhaps not? The establishment of a German cultural institute was by no means the beginning of German cultural diplomacy at the Cape, but rather a transition point. As I will argue in my presentation, there is a rich and illuminating prehistory awaiting analysis.

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