Purpose/Activities

The registered Association for German Cultural Foreign Relations e.V. (VDA) sees itself as a cultural intermediary between German minorities in foreign countries and their old homeland. The Association is both a partner and a contact exchange. Its target group is the roughly 14 million ethnic Germans around the world who still today maintain their German cultural traditions and mother tongue.

The VDA does not pursue any party-political aims and is interdenominational. It has about 1,500 members and patrons in Germany and abroad.

Priorities/Activities in Detail:

international youth exchanges, in particular with Chile, Brazil, Argentina, Paraguay, El Salvadore, Namibia and Russia

cultural and financial sponsoring of German minorities' institutions like schools, kindergartens, libraries, senior citizens' homes, associations, etc.

supporting media for people of German origin which promote German language and culture in other countries and serve as a link between ethnic Germans in the countries they live in

organising trips for Germans living in Germany to meet ethnic Germans living abroad, as well as congresses, seminars and lectures to give information about the achievements and concerns of German minorities in foreign countries

publishing (e.g. the quarterly Globus) and promoting scientific/academic projects

Since the political changes in central and eastern Europe, the VDA has intensified its activities in those regions. On commission from the federal government, it has organised cultural projects for ethnic Germans in and from Russia.