About Us
Who We Are
Das Zentrum, the Australian-German Institute Inc., is a non-profit community organisation incorporated under the Australian Capital Territory Associations Incorporation Act.
Das Zentrum was founded in 1997 following the Goethe Institute’s withdrawal from Canberra.
Since its opening, Das Zentrum has continued to add to the unique collection of German language material donated by the Goethe Institute and to make it available to our members and to the general public.
What We Do
Das Zentrum seeks to forge a link between Australia and the
German-speaking regions of Europe by:
German-speaking regions of Europe by:
- maintaining an extensive library of books and DVDs in
German and in English - subscribing to several German-language magazines
- offering German language classes taught by fully qualified
teachers who are native German speakers at beginners, and
intermediate levels - offering more relaxed conversation groups for those who
want to maintain their fluency - showing German-speaking films (mostly with English subtitles)
- arranging lectures by guest speakers and offering other
presentations - producing a regular bilingual magazine to keep our
membership informed of our activities - providing, above all, a meeting place for all people
interested in the language and culture of the German-speaking areas of the world.
Most of these activites are held in our room in the Griffin Centre
in the middle of Canberra city (Genge Street, Civic), which is
staffed by volunteer members for over fourteen hours per week
in the middle of Canberra city (Genge Street, Civic), which is
staffed by volunteer members for over fourteen hours per week
Language Classes
Taught by fully qualified teachers who are native German speakers
Magazine
A regular bilingual magazine to keep our membership informed of our activities
What We Do
Each year an honorary committee is elected to run the affairs of the association. The committee is supported by a very able and dedicated team of volunteers who staff our library and information centre. Most of our income comes from individual membership subscriptions and fund-raising activities. We also receive financial support from the Goethe Institute Australia and from the A.C.T. Government for the
production of our magazine, Der Federkiel.
production of our magazine, Der Federkiel.
Anyone is welcome to apply for membership of Das Zentrum
The committee members during 2022/23 are:
- Doris Grosse, President
- Lucas Medcraft, Vice President
- Barbara Gatzen, Secretary
- Steve Wallace, Treasurer
- Bill Campbell
- Rachel Cremer
- Billie Kugelman
- Sam Matuschek
- Phil Maier
- Eva Wagner
Our German Language Community
Embassies
Local Clubs
Media
