German Cultural Forum for Eastern Europe
The German Cultural Forum for Eastern Europe eV , based in Potsdam, is an institution for cultural and educational mediation initiated by the Federal Government Commissioner for Culture and the Media in 2000 and supported by it. It started operating in 2001.
Profile and goals
The association offers a framework in which the entire spectrum of German-speaking culture and history in Eastern Europe is presented. Dealing with these cultural traditions in Eastern Europe, with the history of cities and landscapes, which in the course of around seven decades after the catastrophe of World War II was often forgotten, suppressed or even falsified, is the task and subject of the activities of the German Cultural Forum Eastern Europe .
The association deals with the history of these regions and with diverse aspects of cultural history, literature, art and music as well as with the intangible cultural assets. Cultural history includes not only the world of the elites and works of high culture, but also everyday, farming or industrial culture.
The Kulturforum works in close cooperation and in critical and future-oriented dialogue with other scientific, cultural and social institutions in Germany and in the respective countries. It opens up and communicates the unifying cultural heritage of the Germans and their eastern neighbors in high-profile events, through printed publications and electronic media, with the general public in view.
The Kulturforum regards its work as an important contribution to cross-border understanding in a united Europe and as a bridge to today's residents in the corresponding regions. The Kulturforum sees itself as a mediator between East and West, between science and the public, between institutions and individual initiatives. In a special way, it is linked to the related institutions funded by the federal government, for which it strives to act as a link to the public.
The aim is to promote interest in further discussion of the topic and to sensitize people to the preservation and care of the (also) German-influenced cultural assets. The Kulturforum would like to contribute to reducing existing reservations at home and abroad.
An important aspect here is the critical revision of national myths and stereotypes, which in the regions of Eastern Europe, which have largely been ethnically and denominationally mixed for a long time, block the view of the common and connecting historical and social “places of remembrance”.
Basis of activity
The basis for the creation and formulation of the tasks of the Kulturforum as a non-profit association is, in addition to the legal funding basis (§ 96 BVFG), the concept adopted in 2000 for researching and presenting German culture and history in Eastern Europe . The focus is on the “further development of cultural services”, as it is called therein, in the context of the old and new neighboring cultures for the Kulturforum. Keeping these cultural achievements and their continued effects alive in the consciousness of the German public as well as those of the countries and regions formerly or to this day inhabited by Germans is the primary objective of the cultural forum in the following areas, among others:
- Discovery of the historical regions as part of the pan-European culture
- Discovery of the old (formerly) German cultural regions as part of the own regional identity of those now living there
- Borderland situations as a result of diverse cultural and historical overlays
- Raising awareness of the importance and preservation of the intangible and tangible cultural heritage
- Experience of displacement
- Integration of displaced persons, refugees and repatriates in the Federal Republic of Germany and the former GDR
- Experiences of multiculturalism, multilingualism and denominational diversity in the reference regions
Workspace
Program area
The association organizes exhibitions, readings, lectures, discussions, concerts, film screenings, award ceremonies, study trips, theme days, workshops and conferences.
publishing company
In its series Potsdam Library Eastern Europe , the Kulturforum publishes illustrated non-fiction books, cultural-historical travel guides, exhibition catalogs and electronic publications and organizes regular book presentations. At the book fairs in Frankfurt (Main) and Leipzig , the Kulturforum presents not only its own production but also publications from other institutions in the same funding area.
Online portal and public relations
The website of the Kulturforum offers itself as a portal on the subject of German culture and history in Eastern Europe. Here event notices, publications, news and information on current topics as well as diverse materials on the field of work are made generally accessible.
An important task of the Kulturforum is to support joint public relations work by the related federally funded institutions:
- Adalbert Stifter Association
- Federal Institute for Culture and History of Germans in Eastern Europe
- Danube Swabian Central Museum
- House of Silesia
- Herder Institute (Marburg)
- Institute for German Culture and History of Southeast Europe at LMU Munich
- Institute for Culture and History of Germans in Northeast Europe
- East Prussia cultural center
- East Prussian State Museum
- Pomeranian State Museum
- Silesian Museum in Görlitz
- Transylvanian Museum
- Foundation for Flight, Displacement, Reconciliation
- Foundation Art Forum East German Gallery
- Martin Opitz Library Foundation
- West Prussian State Museum
Awards, grants and exhibitions
Georg Dehio Prize
The association awards the Georg Dehio Prize, endowed by the Federal Government Commissioner for Culture and the Media, which alternates annually as the Georg Dehio Culture Prize and the Georg Dehio Book Prize . It recognizes exemplary commitment to the preservation and future-oriented handling of German traditions in Eastern Europe in a partnership-based dialogue with neighbors. The award ceremony will be framed by accompanying events in which the winners will be given a forum and introduced to a larger audience. The award commemorates the important German art historian Georg Dehio (1850–1932) from Reval ( Tallinn ).
European Capitals of Culture and the City Clerk Program
If the respective European Capitals of Culture correspond to the work area of the Cultural Forum, these cities will be given diverse consideration in its annual program. Should the book market not yet be developed in this regard, an illustrated art travel guide will appear in cooperation with the Schnell und Steiner publishing house . There are events on the European Capital of Culture. In addition, the Kulturforum sends a “city clerk” to report from the respective European Capital of Culture for five months. The reports can be followed on a blog.
For representatives from the fields of press, public relations, education and culture, the association organizes an annual study trip to the corresponding regions of Eastern Europe.
Traveling exhibitions
The exhibitions conceived and realized by the association are presented to interested parties as traveling exhibitions.
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ German Bundestag: Concept for the research and presentation of German culture and history in Eastern Europe (PDF; 518 kB) BT-Drucks. 14/4586
- ^ The publication program on the website of the German Cultural Forum for Eastern Europe , (accessed March 12, 2015)