Six years after WWII ended, the Goethe-Institut was officially launched, replacing the Deutsche Akademie (DA). In the beginning, the institute concentrated primarily on training foreign German language teachers. In this picture, language students from Ghana are seen taking a walk with their host family in Murnau, Bavaria.

In the early years, the aim of the institute was to transmit a positive image of Germany after WWII. In 1952, the first institute was opened in Athens, Greece. Other cities followed, like in Mumbai, India (pictured), where the institute is named after German Indologist, Max Mueller. In Germany, courses were offered in idyllic locations.

Politically, the Goethe-Institut was Germany's attempt at starting afresh because ultimately, the Deutsche Akademie, which was founded in 1925, had become a tool for Nazi propaganda. In 1945, the American occupying forces dismantled the Akademie, which they thought was a "Europe-wide propaganda and spying hub" for the Nazis. This picture shows language students in Schwäbisch Hall in the 1970s.

In the following years, more and more Goethe Institutes opened in different countries across the world, for example in North and West Africa, where, in the 1950s and 1960s, new countries emerged after the end of colonialism. The institute and its representatives were popular in Asia as well. German saxophonist, Klaus Doldinger (far right), is seen here with musicians in Pakistan.

Language labs were the trend for learning German in the 1980s. The institute has since realigned itself strategically by forming a wide global network through its affiliations with German cultural institutions that are active abroad. Today, nearly 169 institutes in 98 countries disseminate information on German culture and language.

In 1987, Dutch comedian Rudi Carrell caused a stir when he presented a sketch on a German TV program, showing people hurling brassieres and women's panties at Iran's revolutionary leader, Ayatollah Khomeini. An angry Tehran dismissed German diplomats, canceled flights to Germany, and closed down the Goethe-Institut there.

After the fall of the Iron Curtain, the Goethe-Institut spread its wings towards eastern Europe. The founders of the first institutes in the former communist countries had to improvise a lot. In 1992, the German Foreign Minister, Klaus Kinkel, inaugurated the Goethe-Institut in Moscow. The institute not only grew outside Germany, but also within the former East Germany.

The terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001 in the US also shifted the focus of the Goethe-Institut. Intercultural dialogue and understanding became its top priorities. The institute now focuses on strengthening civil society and preventing conflict. This picture shows the art and music project "Kunstdisco" in Seoul, South Korea.

In 2016, the Goethe-Institut started the "Kultursymposium Weimar," where thinkers from all over the world discuss pressing questions of our times. In 2019, the festival was themed "Die Route wird neu berechnet" (The route is being recalibrated), where participants discussed technological changes in society. In this picture, Taiwanese dancer and inventor, Huang Yi, dances with the robot KUKA.

The institute regularly organizes the "Deutschlandjahre" (The Year of Germany) events together with the Foreign Office. The event's aim is to promote a well-rounded image of the country. The "Deutschlandjahr" 2018/19 in the US saw a total of two million guests attending 2,800 events. The previous year's events were held in Mexico, where Chancellor Angela Merkel was a guest.

The COVID pandemic triggered a wave of digitalization within the institute. Helmed by President Carola Lentz and Secretary General Johannes Ebert, the institute is celebrating its 70th anniversary in November 2021. A book by Carola Lentz has been released to mark the event, and an interactive website introduces readers to the institution's eventful history.

Weimar opened a new Bauhaus Museum in April 2019. The Bauhaus School for Architecture, Art and Design was active in this city from 1919 to 1925. It is renowned for its designs of buildings, furniture and everyday objects — including the cradle above — that were reduced to essential lines. Bauhaus founder Walter Gropius (1883-1969) personally contributed to the selection of the museum's collection.

The founding site of the Bauhaus school is today the campus of the Bauhaus University of Weimar. In 1919, Walter Gropius united the School of Arts and Crafts here to create a revolutionary new educational institution. In the light-flooded studio building (photo), artists, designers and architects worked on ideas to modernize society after World War I.

Attracting creative artistic minds to Weimar was the policy of the dukes of Saxony-Weimar for almost 200 years. Duke Karl August and his mother, Anna Amalia, laid the foundation stone: At the end of the 18th century they ensured Weimar's rise to a center of German cultural and intellectual history. Today, the ducal art collection in the City Palace is a testimony to this legacy.

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe came to Weimar as an aspiring poet in 1775 at the invitation of Duke Karl August. The Duke gave him the garden house in the Park an der Ilm to live and work in. Later, Goethe moved to the more spacious house on Frauenplan, which is now also a museum.

Because Goethe gave him an apartment and the duke offered him better pay, Friedrich Schiller moved to Weimar in 1799. The second floor, the mansard, served as the writer’s work and living rooms, which are now a museum. With the exception of "The Maid of Orleans," all of Schiller's late dramas were performed at the Weimar Hoftheater, which is today the German National Theater.

The Anna Amalia Library is one of the earliest publicly accessible collections of a sovereign's books and is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Goethe was its director for 30 years. Destroyed by a devastating fire in 2004, the restored rococo hall is today once again a magnificent home for the classics of German literature from around 1800.

Not only were Schiller's plays performed in this theater, but in 1919 the National Assembly of the first German republic met here. The Deutsches Nationaltheater thus became the birthplace of German democracy. Nowadays, opera, drama and concerts, from classical to contemporary works, are on the program.

But even the darkest chapter of German history has left its mark on the city. On the Ettersberg Hill, the Buchenwald Memorial Site is a reminder of the atrocities committed by the Nazis. They set up the Buchenwald concentration camp on the site in 1937, and it became one of the largest death camps in Germany. Some 56,000 people died here from torture, medical experiments or starvation.

A detour to the beautiful center of Weimar is a must when visiting the city — the marketplace is a meeting point for locals and tourists. Here, you'll find the Town Hall (on the right) dating from the Renaissance and the Hotel Elephant, where all the famous guests of the town have stayed.

No visit to Weimar would be complete without tasting Thuringian dumplings. The restaurant Scharfe Ecke in the old town is an institution for its famous dumplings, which are, of course, homemade. Everyone can see from a distance whether the restaurant is open or not by whether the Kloss-Marie (Dumpling Marie) statue is positioned outside the front door.