Research project The Long Struggle for Sweden – West German Cultural Policy During the Cold War

With the establishment of a GDR cultural centre in Stockholm in 1967 and West German Goethe-Institutes in Stockholm, Gothenburg, and Malmö (1963, 1970, 1971), the study examines the activities of the Goethe-Institute and the dual representation of German culture that existed in Sweden until German reunification in 1990.

While the GDR's cultural policy activities in Sweden have been well researched, the West German cultural policy remains largely unexplored. This research seeks to address this gap by analysing previously unavailable materials from the local and central archives of the Goethe-Institute and documents from the political archives of the German Foreign Office. The key research questions include: What strategic cultural policy goals were pursued by West Germany in Sweden? What forms of cultural expression were promoted?

The study aims to demonstrate how the Federal Republic of Germany, as a democratic state, engaged in a cultural policy competition with its totalitarian neighbour. This case study contributes to a better understanding of cultural mediation and cultural exchange during the Cold War and sheds light on the complex dynamics between democratic and totalitarian states in the realm of cultural and educational policy.