ABSTRACT

The German response to the geopolitical and ideological changes of 1989–91 involved an attempt to generate closer cooperation between cultural, commercial, academic and political sectors and apply it to relations with recast states and societies in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) and the Former Soviet Union. Cultural policy involves a psychological-emotional element not so readily measurable for its material effects. Like other nations, Germans are pleased with foreign appreciation and interest in German language, literature, music, film, art, and that German goods and lifestyle reach a receptive and growing audience. German collective memory, they argued, led to self-imposed limitations and Germany did not possess the cultural power necessary to achieve a hegemonic influence such as the United States had: 'Germany's neighbors observe strict limits on their cultural acceptance of things German.' Special opportunities and imperatives were located in CEE, where linkage of culture and commerce has predecessors.