Our language deserves a better reputation – especially in Europe: it’s a shame that we don’t advertise it. And it’s unbelievable that politicians are even closing Goethe Institutes instead.
In the spring I was invited to a reading at the German School in Madrid. It is an elegant, campus-like building on the edge of Madrid, with a view of the Sierra – and with 2,000 students who are taught German by highly committed teachers. What the 135 German schools abroad supported by the federal government do for the reputation of the German language and culture deserves the highest recognition. But my view was not unclouded by the Spanish conditions. From the German embassy I received a summary of a representative survey about the image of Germany in Spain. The results are remarkable.