The DAI

DAI Heidelberg. House of Culture.

The German-American Institute Heidelberg (DAI) is a cultural institution dedicated to promoting democracy. One focus is the transatlantic dialogue between Germany and America. Its declared goal is to stimulate and support the exchange and encounter with people and institutions in America and to promote academic debate on America.

As a “place of the free spirit”, the central themes of science, literature and politics also form the pillars of the library. Around half a million visitors attend the DAI’s programmes every year, and the Friends of the DAI have over 5,000 members. Lectures and readings, exhibitions, concerts and theatre performances, seminars and conferences make up the DAI’s cultural programme.

The library of the DAI is the only public English-language library in the entire Rhine-Neckar region and offers an extensive collection of books, DVDs and audio books of all genres as well as national and international newspapers and magazines.

Furthermore, the library offers special services for teachers as well as a variety of social activities such as storytime programs and art courses for children, a Little Poets Club, several discussion groups or a book club.

The Makerspace is also open to the public and offers a variety of activities such as Girls Go Digital, Sewing Café or Youth Think Tank.

The continuously growing activities of the Makerspace should soon lead to the Begeisterhaus. For this purpose, Patton Barracks, a former administration building, was acquired on the US conversion site, which is currently being completely rebuilt.

The Education USA program provides schoolchildren* and students* with extensive information about numerous exchange programs in the USA.

The language school of the DAI (One World Language School) offers a wide range of English and Spanish language courses for children, students and adults.

Since September 2007, the DAI has also been running several International Kindergartens, which enjoy great popularity and offer space for about 180 to 200 children from over 20 nations at three locations. The DAI-Freundeskreis e. V. is the sponsor of the kindergartens and the “Begeisterhaus”.

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