The institute was earlier based in a building on Budapest?s historic Andrássy Avenue, but high rents made a move necessary. For the first time in many years, the institute?s cultural programmes, library and language instruction programmes will be housed under one roof. The institute?s Eckermann café has also moved with it and invites old and new guests with its authentic atmosphere, special offerings and early opening hours.
The institute also has a new director, Dr. Gabriele Gauler, who aims to bring a new dynamism to its cultural and educational offerings. Gauler arrives in Budapest from the Goethe Institute in Munich, where she headed its language courses department. With more than fifteen years of experience in the field of language learning, she promises to bring new impetus to the institute?s language instruction and teacher training courses.
The institute will celebrate the opening of its new home with a series of cultural and educational events until the end of May. Among them will be events organised as part of the ?Kulturfrühling?, or spring of culture, a programme which aims to strengthen German and Hungarian cultural and educational ties. Since opening in Budapest in 1988, the institute has organised more than 2,000 cultural events.
