Johannes Ebert

Johannes Ebert at the Frankfurt Book Fair 2018

Johannes Ebert (* 1963 in Ulm ) is a German orientalist and has been Secretary General of the Goethe Institute since 2012 .

Life

After studying Islamic studies (Arabic, Persian, Turkish) and scientific politics in Freiburg im Breisgau and Damascus, Ebert volunteered at the daily newspaper Heilbronner Demokratie before joining the Goethe Institute in 1991 . After positions as a lecturer (teacher for German as a foreign language ) at the Goethe-Institut in Prien (1993–1994), as a speaker for language course work at the Goethe-Institut Riga / Latvia (1994–1995) and as deputy head of public relations at the Munich headquarters of the Goethe Institute (1995–1997), from 1997 to 2002 he headed the Goethe Institute in Kiev (Ukraine). From 2002 to 2007 he was director of the Goethe-Institut Cairo (Egypt) and director of the North Africa / Middle East region of the Goethe-Institut. He then headed the Goethe-Institut Moscow and the Eastern Europe / Central Asia region from 2007 to 2012 .

On March 1, 2012, Johannes Ebert took over his current position as Secretary General of the Goethe Institute. Johannes Ebert placed a focus on increased engagement in crisis regions and countries in upheaval, e. B. in Ukraine , North Africa and the Middle East . It was very important to him to support refugees with cultural and educational projects in the neighboring countries of Syria and in Germany. In addition, his first term of office includes, for example, the expansion of digital possibilities in all fields of work at the Goethe-Institut, the German 3.0 language campaign on the future of the German language, the founding of the Goethe-Instituts in Myanmar and Kinshasa, and preparations for the opening in Windhoek .

At the presidium meeting on March 18, 2016, Johannes Ebert was unanimously confirmed in office for another five years. The focus of his second term of office is, among other things, the conceptual development of the Goethe-Institut's residency programs and the promotion of international co-productions. In addition, current, international impulses and developments, which the Goethe-Institut helps shape through its global network, are to make more fruitful and visible for Germany, such as: E.g. at the international cultural symposium Weimar, which took place for the first time in June 2016 under the topic "Share and Exchange".

Johannes Ebert is a member of the board of EUNIC , the network of European cultural institutes, member of the board of trustees of the Japanese-German Center Berlin, member of the advisory board of the Tarabya cultural academy, institutional member of the DAAD board of trustees , corresponding institutional member of the Institute for Foreign Relations (ifa), Member of the Board of Trustees of the International Youth Library Foundation as well as member of the editorial board of the Kulturausch magazine .

Johannes Ebert is married and has three children.

Fonts

• Ebert, Johannes u. a. (Ed.): Sharing and exchanging, S. Fischer Verlage, 2017.
• Ebert, Johannes u. a. (Ed.): Climate.Art.Culture. Climate change in arts and cultural studies, 2014.
• Ebert, Johannes u. a. (Ed.): Human rights and culture. The human right to culture, 2014.
• Ebert, Johannes u. a. (Ed.): Positions 7: Contemporary Artists Arab World, 2013.
• Ebert, Johannes: Strong structures, creative approaches and big tasks in the future. The promotion of the German language by the Goethe-Institut in Russia. In: Ammon, Ulrich / Kemper, Dirk (Ed.): The German language in Russia. Past, present, future prospects, 2011.
• Ebert, Johannes (Ed.): MIDAD - the German-Arab town clerk project. With forewords by Jutta Limbach and Mahmoud Darwisch and contributions by Thomas Brussig, Steffen Kopetzky, Silke Scheuermann, Akram Mussallam, Latifa Baqa and others. a., 2007.
• Ebert, Johannes: "Cultural dialogue with the Arab world - opportunity for exchange and rapprochement." In: Qantara.de, 2007.
• Ebert, Johannes: Unity in Diversity: Who is doing What in German Educational and Cultural Politics Abroad? In: Warner, Nils (Ed.): Mediterranean Sea - Gap or Bridge ?, 2006.

Web links

Commons : Johannes Ebert  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

• Interviews and speeches by Secretary General Johannes Eberts (Goethe-Institut)
• "Freiraum" project of the Goethe Institute - How is freedom in Europe? Article by Johannes Ebert. In: Tagesspiegel, March 11, 2019
• Foreign cultural and educational policy . Article by Johannes Ebert: In: Political Studies 482 of the Hanns Seidel Foundation / In focus "Making politics with culture", November – December 2018, pp. 48–57.
• The opportunities of foreign cultural and educational policy. Article by Johannes Ebert and Ronald Grätz. In: Germany and the World 2030, October 2018.
• In the competition of narratives. Cairo, Ankara, Beirut, New York: Johannes Ebert, Secretary General of the Goethe-Institut, on new dangers and strategies of foreign cultural work - and the limits of exchange. Interview with Johannes Ebert. In: Der Tagesspiegel: February 27, 2017.
• Now even more raise your voice. The Secretary General of the Goethe Institute on populists and the Brexit break. Article by Johannes Ebert. In: taz, July 23, 2016.
• Why culture is important in a crisis. Cultural engagement as part of a trust-building foreign policy Blog post by Johannes Ebert on: Foreign Office; Review 2014 - Foreign Policy Thinking Ahead , December 12, 2014.
• Ukraine, Russia, Arabellion: Johannes Ebert, Secretary General of the Goethe Institute, wants to strengthen civil societies abroad. Interview. In: tageszeitung, September 6, 2014.
• Johannes Ebert in an interview: "If a language no longer develops, it is dead". Goethe-Institut, December 11, 2013.
• “They speak German. Why language courses are becoming more and more popular during the crisis. ” Interview with Johannes Ebert. In: Die Welt, April 30, 2013.
• Typically German - Johannes Ebert, Head of the Goethe-Institut ( Memento from January 22, 2015 in the Internet Archive ), DW , January 6, 2013

Individual evidence

1. ↑ opus5 interactive medien gmbh, http://www.opus5.de : S. Fischer Verlage - Share and Exchange (paperback). Retrieved September 6, 2017 . 
2. ↑ Cultural dialogue with the Arab world: Opportunity for exchange and rapprochement - Qantara.de . In: Qantara.de - Dialogue with the Islamic World . ( qantara.de [accessed on September 6, 2017]).