Germans Promote Cultural Revival in Afghan Life

While the diplomats and dignitaries at the Afghanistan Conference in Berlin begin to discuss efforts to rebuild, refinance and stabilize the war-torn country, one area of reconstruction is already well underway -- the cultural aspect of Afghan life is thriving despite very difficult conditions thanks to efforts from German organizations.

Germany’s cultural flagship in Afghanistan is the Goethe Institute. The head office in the capital Kabul had been closed for 12 years until it became the first foreign cultural institute to be reopened last September. The demand for German-language classes is enormous, and the Goethe Institute also supports art exhibitions and theater and film productions. People love the Goethe Institute, says Wilfried Grolig, Director-General of the Department for Culture and Education at the German Foreign Office.

“People here in Kabul are culturally starved -- they’re interested in everything!” he said. “So opening up windows of opportunity and importing culture from the outside world, especially from Germany, is the right idea,” Grolig told Deutsche Welle.

Germany supports new schools

Windows of opportunity also includes opening up two schools, financed by the German Foreign Office. The schools, one for boys and one for girls, teach over 4,000 pupils.

The DAAD, a German academic program, is also very active in Kabul. It provides German university lecturers with additional training and sends them to colleges in Afghanistan. But the conditions under which teachers must educate and students must learn are often horrendous, according to Wilfried Grolig.

“When I was in Kabul, I was invited to watch a theater group rehearse for the play "Antigone," which is about betrayal and death, set in a really dilapidated room. Had it been for a performance in Berlin, we would have said ‘Wow, the director’s had a brainstorm for the stage scenery.’ But in Kabul, that’s not stage scenery—it’s reality.”

Wide range of re-training schemes

The German government supports projects in other parts of Afghanistan too, especially projects for women. And German specialists train lawyers and judges, while also helping to set up a new media system in the country. The guiding principles behind all the projects are democracy, human rights, and freedom of opinion, says Grolig, but that doesn’t mean transposing German culture onto Afghanistan.

“It’s not about forcing our culture onto other people. It’s about creating a forum for dialogue,” he says.

The German government intends to further support cultural and educational programs in Afghanistan, and Grolig says he hopes the international conference will clearly show that the international community is still on Afghanistan’s side in helping to rebuild the country.