About us

DAI Heidelberg. House of Culture.

The German-American Institute Heidelberg (DAI) is a cultural institution committed to democracy and international exchange, with its focal point being translantic dialogue between Germany and the United States. Our goal is to foster exchange and interaction with people and institutions in America as well as to stimulate debate on contemporary topics.

As a “place of the free spirit”, the DAI’s core themes revolve around science, literature, and politics. Nearly half a million visitors attend DAI programs annually. The DAI is also supported by the DAI Freundeskreis, which consists of roughly 5,000 members. DAI cultural programs span from lectures and readings, concerts and plays, to seminars and conferences. .

The DAI library serves as the only public English-language library in the entire Rhine-Neckar region and offers an extensive collection of books, DVDs, audiobooks, as well as national and international newspapers and magazines. In addition, the library provides special opportunities for teachers and a variety of social activities and programs for children, such as Story Time for Kids, art courses, Little Poets Club, discussion groups, Book Club, and many more.

The DAI language school offers a wide range of English and Spanish language courses for children and adults.

Since September 2007, the DAI also administers 3 International Kindergartens. Enrolling approximately 200 students from over 20 countries, these kindergartens are very popular. In 2021, the DAI established the International DAI School, a bilingual elementary school situated on the premises of the Heidelberg Innovation Park. The sponsor of the kindergartens, the school, and the Begeisterhaus is the Heidelberg New School of Life gGmbH, whose shareholders form the Freundeskreis of DAI Heidelberg e. V.

The sponsor of DAI Heidelberg is the Schurman-Gesellschaft e. V., named after Jacob Gould Schurman (1854-1942), a former U.S. ambassador and patron of Heidelberg University.