Klaus-Dieter Lehmann () (born 29 February 1940 in Breslau) is a German librarian and has been president of the

Goethe-Institut The Goethe-Institut (, GI, en, Goethe Institute) is a non-profit German cultural association operational worldwide with 159 institutes, promoting the study of the German language abroad and encouraging international cultural exchange and ...

since April 2008.

Career

Born in 1940 in Breslau, Lehmann studied physics and mathematics and passed his state examination in library science. In 1988 Lehmann became director of the Deutsche Bibliothek, Frankfurt, the national library of West Germany. Following

German reunification German reunification (german: link=no, Deutsche Wiedervereinigung) was the process of re-establishing Germany as a united and fully sovereign state, which took place between 2 May 1989 and 15 March 1991. The day of 3 October 1990 when the Ge ...

he merged the library with its East German counterpart in Leipzig; since 2006, the institution has been known as the German National Library. From 1998 to 2008 he served as president of the Prussian Cultural Heritage Foundation.

Other activities

Corporate boards

* Deutsche Bank, member of the advisory board (since 2006) * Holtzbrinck Publishing Group, member of the supervisory board

Non-profits

* Association of Arts and Culture of the German Economy at the Federation of German Industries (BDI), member of the Jury for the 2017 Arts Sponsorship Award * Bavarian State Library (BSB), member of the board of trustees * Bertelsmann Stiftung, member of the board of trustees (2005–2010) * BHF Bank Foundation, member of the board of trustees * Culture Foundation of the

German Football Association The German Football Association (german: Deutscher Fußball-Bund ; DFB ) is the governing body of football in Germany. A founding member of both FIFA and UEFA, the DFB has jurisdiction for the German football league system and is in charge of t ...

(DFB), member of the board of trustees * Deutsches Museum, member of the governing board * German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD), member of the executive committee * Germanisches Nationalmuseum, chairman of the administrative board * German Book Prize Academy, member of the executive board * German-Russian Forum, member of the board of trustees *

Museum Berggruen The Berggruen Museum (also known as the Berggruen Collection) is a collection of modern art classics in Berlin, which the collector and dealer Heinz Berggruen, in a "gesture of reconciliation", gave to his native city. The most notable artists o ...

, member of the international council *

Opera Village Africa Opera Village Africa (French: , German: ) is an arts education project located in Ouagadougou, the capital city of Burkina Faso. It was initiated by the German film and theatre director, actor, and artist, Christoph Schlingensief. It is operated ...

, member of the Circle of Friends * Villa Stuck, member of the board of trustees *

German Academy for Language and Literature German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ger ...

, member of the board of trustees * German Federal Cultural Foundation, chairman of the advisory committee * Giesecke & Devrient Foundation, member of the board of trustees * Heinz Friedrich Foundation, member of the board of trustees *

Peace Prize of the German Book Trade is an international peace prize awarded annually by the Börsenverein des Deutschen Buchhandels (English: ''German Publishers and Booksellers Association''), which runs the Frankfurt Book Fair. The award ceremony is held in the Paulskirche in ...

, member of the board of trustees (2008–2014) * Cultural Foundation of the Federal States, deputy chairman of the board of trustees * Stifterverband für die Deutsche Wissenschaft, member of the board of trustees * Ursula Lübbe Foundation, member of the board of trustees *

2011 FIFA Women's World Cup The 2011 FIFA Women's World Cup was the sixth FIFA Women's World Cup competition, the world championship for women's national association football teams. It was held from 26 June to 17 July 2011 in Germany, which won the right to host the even ...

, member of the board of trustees (2008–2011) *

Bertelsmann Foundation The Bertelsmann Stiftung is an independent foundation under private law, based in Gütersloh, Germany. It was founded in 1977 by Reinhard Mohn as the result of social, corporate and fiscal considerations. As the Bertelsmann Stiftung itself h ...

, member of the board of trustees (2006–2010)

Recognition

Lehmann was awarded the

Federal Cross of Merit The Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany (german: Verdienstorden der Bundesrepublik Deutschland, or , BVO) is the only federal decoration of Germany. It is awarded for special achievements in political, economic, cultural, intellect ...

, First Class, in 1996. In 2016, he was awarded the

Gutenberg Prize of the International Gutenberg Society and the City of Mainz The Gutenberg Prize of the International Gutenberg Society and the City of Mainz has been awarded since 1968 for outstanding artistic, technical and scientific achievements in the field of printing. The award was initially awarded every three years ...

References

External links

Goethe-Institut biography
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lehmann, Klaus-Dieter 1940 births German librarians Living people Commanders Crosses of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany Recipients of the Order of Merit of Berlin Members of the European Academy of Sciences and Arts