German schools abroad as an instrument of German foreign cultural and education policy

Globalisation has radically changedthe international relations, including the sphere of culture. Germans were the first, who understood that for successful distribution ofvalues, traditions and the German language in the world is important to pay a special attention to the cultural dimension of foreign policy.In the 21 century the Federal Republic of Germany already had the corresponding network of the political and scientific foundationsas well as cultural institutes all over the world. Today German schools abroad remain to be such tools in the field of foreign cultural andeducation policy providing quality secondary education abroad according to German educational standards. For more than a hundredyears Germany has been spending one third of its "cultural budget" to support its schools abroad. It allows the German Foreign Ministryto provide successfully the strategy of distribution knowledge of German language, culture, support of compatriots and positive imageof Germany. It will be interesting for a variety of reasons to consider the system of the German secondary schools abroad: First of all,functioning under the umbrella of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, these institutes have a long and very rich history. Their financingfrom the state budget also has been entered for the first time in the world practice in Germany in 1870s. The second reason is characterisedby its practical component: for many years the German schools and language institutes abroad have been productively working inthe Russian Federation and in the CIS-countries. Undoubtedly, their activities should represent a great interest for the Russian experience,taking in mind that the Russian foreign ministry is currently concentrating its efforts on the Russian language popularisation andsupport of compatriots abroad. The interest to this topic can be also explained by a growing role of the Federal Republic of Germany inthe world politics. After the unification process has been finished Germany represents the new state trying to strengthen its foreign policy.It appears that studying the German foreign policy network has a big practical importance. In the following article the author analysesthe system of the German secondary education abroad as the instrument supplementing the German foreign policy network from thepoint of its institutional structure and historical perspective. The article is based on a wide range of information material of the Ministryof Foreign Affairs and German Bundestag as well as that of the German Centre of School Education Abroad. Among the literature onthis topic it is essential to underline the works of Klaus Winter, the professor in University of Oldenburg, and Berthold Witte, the politicianand publicist, who paid a special attention to historical and political aspects of the German schools functioning abroad.

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