Johann Gottfried Herder and the Herder Institute. Creating traditions in the field of German as a Foreign and Second Language

The former "Institut f & uuml;r Ausl & auml;nderstudium" (Institute for Foreign Students) was renamed the "Herder Institute" in the 1960s. The article examines the extent to which Johann Gottfried Herder can still serve as an orientation for the creation of traditions and the self-image of the subject German as a Foreign and Second Language today. Alongside Herder's understanding of language and his critical approach to slavery, racism and colonialism, it is above all his view of humanity as a form of interaction characterised by reason and the desire for mutual understanding which makes him so relevant today with regard to an overarching normative orientation in the subject of German as a Foreign and Second Language.