New Goethe President: Gesche Joost takes over

The Goethe Institute is getting a new president. In November, Gesche Joost will take over the honorary position from Carola Lentz, who announced in February that she wanted to devote herself to her ethnological research again after four years.

Most recently, budget cuts and the closure of traditional branches in France and Italy have shaken up the Goethe Institute. The Federal Foreign Office wants to realign its foreign cultural policy and adapt it to the changed global political conditions.

Institute in turbulence

It’s not an easy time at the Goethe Institute. The institute in Beirut is making headlines this week. Forged language certificates from Goethe employees are said to have led to illegal entry into Germany in several hundred cases.

The election of Gesche Joost sets an example. Born in Kiel in 1974, she is significantly younger than her predecessors. She also works in a promising field. Joost has been a professor of design research at the Berlin University of the Arts since 2011 and heads the Design Research Lab. From 2014 to 2018, she represented the German government as a so-called Internet ambassador to the European Commission in Brussels. The digital transformation of society is her topic.

Digitalization and reform – these have been priorities at Goethe for several years. This is how the cultural and language teaching got through the pandemic. Physical presence and direct contact at the 150 locations worldwide are crucial. Joost has been Vice President at Goethe since January 2023, so she knows what she expects and what is expected of her.