History
The Institute was established in 1948, with the aim of promoting Franco-German cooperation in all areas of public life and academia. It is based in Ludwigsburg, a Paris office being opened in 2004. In 1990 the Frankreich-Bibliothek, a library and documentation centre, was opened in Ludwigsburg.
Founder members of the dfi included prominent figures such as Joseph Rovan and Alfred Grosser, on the French side, and the Germans Theodor Heuss and Carlo Schmid. The first director was Fritz Schenk (1948-1972), followed by Robert Picht (1972-2002) and Frank Baasner (2002- ). The titular head of the Institute is the President, currently the former prime minister of Baden Württemberg, Erwin Teufel.
The Institute currently has approximately 20 members of staff, including 5 researchers.
Read more about this topic: Franco-German Institute
Famous quotes containing the word history:
“At present cats have more purchasing power and influence than the poor of this planet. Accidents of geography and colonial history should no longer determine who gets the fish.”
—Derek Wall (b. 1965)
“The custard is setting; meanwhile
I not only have my own history to worry about
But am forced to fret over insufficient details related to large
Unfinished concepts that can never bring themselves to the point
Of being, with or without my help, if any were forthcoming.”
—John Ashbery (b. 1927)
“Literary works cannot be taken over like factories, or literary forms of expression like industrial methods. Realist writing, of which history offers many widely varying examples, is likewise conditioned by the question of how, when and for what class it is made use of.”
—Bertolt Brecht (1898–1956)