DAI Heidelberg gets new program director

Lena Jöhnk is the new Program Director of the German-American Institute (DAI) Heidelberg. The Board of Directors of the Schurman-Gesellschaft e.V., sponsor of the renowned cultural institution, elected her with the required majority on February 23 as the person responsible for the DAI’s content-related programming. Her term of office will begin on September 1, 2024, and she will remain in office until the end of the year alongside long-serving DAI Director Jakob J. Köllhofer, who is well-known far beyond Heidelberg and who is taking his belated retirement at the end of the year after more than 47 years of service.

Lena Jöhnk: “I received a very warm welcome from the Lord Mayor and the staff. The DAI is a great place in the middle of Heidelberg with very good opportunities, a place of lively encounters where we deal with the pressing issues of our time. This is invaluable and has inspired me greatly. Especially now, when democracy can no longer be taken for granted and we need to stand up for it again, the DAI is making a very valuable contribution and will continue to do so in the future. For me, it is important to maintain the excellent program at the high level that takes place here, and there will also be many new things to come.”

Lord Mayor Prof. Dr. Eckart Würzner: “The DAI is one of the city’s most important cultural institutions. With Lena Jöhnk, we have been able to gain an enthusiastic and experienced program director for the DAI, who will continue the great work of Jakob Köllhofer with her own focus and new impulses.”

In the search for a suitable successor to Köllhofer (76), a Future Commission was set up specifically for this purpose, consisting of members of the Board of Directors of the Schurman Society, which was tasked with the process of organizational and personnel restructuring at the DAI and is chaired by Dr. Juergen Boos. The commission undertook the pre-selection of the 24 applications received for the publicly advertised position; six candidates presented themselves in person. The final decision was ultimately made by the Administrative Board, which is chaired by Heidelberg’s Lord Mayor Prof. Dr. Eckart Würzner.

Biography

Born in Lower Saxony, Lena Jöhnk (39) studied Applied Cultural Studies with a focus on cultural philosophy in Lüneburg and Milan and is currently completing her doctorate in the field of urban development and art. She worked for the Goethe-Institut in Germany from 2011, first as a volunteer and then as a cultural advisor, then as a board advisor, before taking over the management of the cultural program work of the Goethe-Institut in North America from 2017 to 2022. In addition to the USA, her work has taken her to Turkey, among other places. She is currently working at the Braunschweig Community Foundation, where she is responsible for program and fundraising, until she moves to Heidelberg with her husband and two children in the summer.

Background

The Schurman-Gesellschaft e. V. is the non-profit association responsible for the DAI cultural center in Sofienstraße and consists of a three-member board of directors and a 14-member administrative board. The Kulturhaus attracts around half a million visitors a year and currently has 22 employees. All information about the DAI: dai-heidelberg.de.