50 years of Goethe-Institut in Addis Ababa

The Goethe-Institut in Addis Ababa has launched a programme of events to celebrate its 50^th anniversary. This includes classical music by the Delian-Quartett and Ethio-German jazz, a screening of a documentary about the history of the Goethe-Institut and a photographic exhibition on the architectural history of the “Goethe buildings”.

Speaking at the anniversary celebrations at the beginning of April the German ambassador to Ethiopia Lieselore Cyrus said: "Against the background of over 100 years of diplomatic relations between Ethiopia and Germany, the core mission of the Goethe-Institut has remained unchanged: to build bridges between two cultures."

One of Germany's first organisations to operate in Africa, the ‘German Cultural Institut’ (as it was then called) was inaugurated by Emperor Haile Selassie I in 1962. The book signed by the emperor that day remains in the institute’s library.

The institute’s first office was at Arat Kilo and in 2005 the institute moved to its current location, the former residence of Crown Prince Merid Azmach Asfaw Wossen.

For more details on upcoming events at the Goethe-Institut see www.goethe.de.