You’ll find information about our events on this page and on our Facebook page.
December 2019
Hauskonzert und Adventstreffen
Sunday, 15 December 2019 from 2.30 pm
At a private residence in Lyall Bay (full details will be provided to those indicating their attendance)

Mary and Peter Barber
van Beethoven, Violin Sonata No. 9 Op. 47, “Kreutzer Sonata” in A major
performed by Peter Barber (NZSO violist) – Violin
and Mary Barber – Piano
Admission by koha ($10 suggested). Seating is limited, so for those who wish to attend the concert, please rsvp to Goethe Society indicating how many seats you require.
The venue for the event is a private residence in Lyall Bay. If you are coming, please email Goethe Society . You will receive an email with full details in due course.
Adventskonzert
Sunday, 8 December 2019 at 5 pm
A concert of traditional German Advent music, choir, organ, soloists & instruments.
Director and Organist: Bruce Cash.
Past Events
October 2019
Filmabend – Grüße aus Fukushima
You are warmly invited to the Goethe Society Film Evening for good company, tasty food, fine wine and great viewing.
The film is directed by Doris Dörrie (Cherry Blossoms, 2008), with a small cast including Kaori Momoi (Memoirs of a Geisha, 2005) and Rosalie Thomass. It is predominantly in English though chunks are in German and a little Japanese.
Presented in co-operation with the Goethe-Institut Wellington
September 2019
New Perspectives on Fontane – Fontane’s Changing Attitude to War as reflected in his Novel “Quitt” (1890)
Wednesday, 11 September 2019 at 7.30 pm
In this lecture, Prof. James Bade will be discussing his research on Theodor Fontane, Germany’s most prominent nineteenth century novelist. Over a glass of wine, hear about Fontane’s most political novel with its bold indictment of German militarism. Learn how the man who was once heralded for his glorification of war, could by the end of the 1880s have changed his mind to such an extent that he writes what appears to be a pacifist novel. James Bade will first look at evidence of Fontane’s changing attitude to war, then will move on to his work on Fontane’s American settings.
James Bade, Professor Emeritus of German at the University of Auckland, is now based in Wellington. After completing his Masters in German from Victoria University of Wellington, he went on to do his PhD at the University of Zürich.
July 2019
Choir Rehearsal
Sunday, 28 July 2019
Singers wanted!
Our next singing together is on Sunday, 28th July, from 2.30 – 5.30pm
If you can’t manage that, come to the next one, a few weeks later. We meet about once a month in various venues.
Enjoy singing German, Austrian and Swiss music together and using (or improving) your German at the same time!
Deutsche Gemütlichkeit inbegriffen.
This is in no way “in competition with normal choirs”. The concept is different and it is not a regular weekly commitment.
Music this year includes Beethoven, Schubert and Haydn, a Bach cantata, and folk song settings.
For DETAILS and new registrations please email Bruce Cash
Please let me know if you are interested; if you are coming on 28th July. It helps to have an idea of numbers!
Filmabend – Ich und Kaminski
Ein Film von Wolfgang Becker
Me and Kaminski (Ich und Kaminski) is the 2015 German comedy film that adapts the novel of the same name by Daniel Kehlmann. It features Daniel Brühl (Inglorious Basterds) and Jesper Christensen (007-Quantum of Solace). Manuel Kaminski is a (fictional) painter who apprenticed under Matisse, was a friend
of Picasso and rose to fame because of the belief that he was blind, despite it never being obvious if this was true. Decades later, the failing critic Sebastian Zöllner has the brilliant idea of writing a biography about the painter, to cash-in on his eventual death. The journalist not only finds the painter, but also influences him into making a cross-country trip to find Kaminski’s old lover ……
Organised by the Goethe Society Wellington in cooperation with the Goethe-Institut New Zealand
June 2019
“How to Read a Trakl Poem”: Lecture by Dr Richard Millington
Dr Millington (PhD on German Expressionist poetry) says he has been “reading, admiring and pondering Trakl’s poetry” for most of his life, so his lecture on the topic “How to Read a Trakl Poem” promises a highly interesting evening, especially as he has a new book on Trakl due for publication next year.
May 2019