Warum? Why in German? Users of the Goethe Institut, the German institute in Toulouse, have passed on many questions since mid-July. At this time, they learned of the closure of linguistic center of this Goethe-Institut. A hard blow for the 150 students and seven teachers who led these courses and who therefore lost their jobs as the Goethe-Institut celebrates this year its 60 years of presence in Toulouse.

Buildings for sale?

And above all, the users believe that it is the entire institute that is threatened, in particular because the management plans to sell the premises located very close to the Place Saint-Pierre (rue Isaure). A political decision since it is linked to a vote by the German parliament which decided to budgetary restrictions in the field of cultureallowing an increase of more than 100 billion euros in the federal armament budget.

And yet, the courses at Goethe-Linguistics were commendable, with in particular a 30% increase in registrations for the latter according to insured employees Xavier Labourdique, one of the employees of the Goethe-Institut.

A group made up mainly of students decided to start a petition on the online platform change.org. More than 3000 signatures have been collected so far. In a few days, more than a thousand signatories gave their support in order to “save the linguistic department”. And Julie, who has been taking lessons since 2020, does not accept this decision, which fell without explanation, and which is inconsistent with the needs of the city, in particular with the presence of Airbus.

Letters to French and German politicians

A event is scheduled for October 8. The employees also wrote numerous letters to French and German politicians in an attempt to reverse the decision. The latest was sent to Brigitte Macron. In France alone, the institutes of Nancy, Lyons and Paris will continue to teach. The Goethe-Institut is the ambassador of the German language in the world with a course and examination offer in more than 90 countries.