Although Markus was appointed director of Goethe-Institut Taipei just this March, he has been interested in Chinese culture ever since he began learning Chinese in his early twenties as his major during his undergraduate study. Asked his motivation in learning a foreign language that is completely different from German in linguistic structure, Markus chuckles and says, "I intended to study the arts in the beginning, but it seemed that I did not have a gift for the profession. I found that I could achieve a great deal through learning Chinese, and since then I have been obsessed with both ancient and modern Chinese literature."

His abilities in Chinese also led the management of Goethe-Institut Germany to send Markus to Japan as the chief officer of the Goethe-Institut Japan in 1994. "This appointment might be thought of as a misunderstanding, as management felt that if one could speak Chinese, one could survive in Japan," said Markus. Yet the appointment opened another window for Markus to learn about Taiwan's culture. His Japanese mother-in-law was a renowned vocalist and had students from Taiwan who often visited Markus'?house. This was how Markus first came to know Taiwan's friendly culture and met a few artists from circles in Taiwan.

"Taiwan is one of the friendliest cultures I have ever known. The Taiwanese people are very agreeable and accommodating to any foreign culture," Markus told Taiwan News. "It is also amazing to realize how both Germany and Taiwan have had similar experiences in becoming democratic countries."?All these factors drove Markus to apply for the position of director of Taiwan's office when his term in China came to its end.

The Goethe-Institut, a non-profit and politically independent German cultural institution, aims to disseminate knowledge about Germany through the exchange of films, music, literature, arts and the like. And Markus, like his counterparts around the world, is responsible for arranging various cultural events or exhibitions allowing both Taiwanese and Germans to appreciate each others' cultures. "For many years local people have simply assumed the Goethe-Institut is a German language learning center. Yet we also help local artists to gain access into German artists' circles by inviting some local artists to Germany or by organizing exhibitions for German artists here,"?Lin Vinci, the public affairs manager of GI Taipei, explains.

This year, the GI will work with the 4th Digital Art Festival Taipei to exhibit the masterworks of Christoph Brech. His works focus on videos, indoor installations and art in public spaces. In this exhibition, the audience will learn about some of the subjects of his artworks that cover time, change, existence and non-existence, transfers among materials, soul and spirit, and music.

Brech's video installation artworks feature one interesting aspect that audiences may find confusing in his creations. But for a while most audiences will find the materials such as people, events and scenes in his video artworks impressive. The materials may be displayed in an extraordinary way, or their appearance can differ from our perception. His imagination in art totally contradicts the audience's understanding of the arts. "I believe my works will stimulate the world to observe the details and any unusual elements in our daily life," Brech explains.

During the exhibition period, the GI will organize an Artist Dialogue Event in the museum of Contemporary Art Taipei on November 7. In this event, the audience and local artists are welcoming to exchange their thoughts and ideas with Brech.

The GI's cultural exchanges this year are certainly not limited to fine arts circles. Markus' friendly relationship with Taiwan'存 students during his term in Japan and his Chinese capability have helped him to look into local's demands concerning German culture, which has indeed been helpful for GI Taipei in organizing future cultural activities.

In 2009 GI Taipei decided to use democracy, freedom and human rights as the themes for their events, as this year marks the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall. The series of events began with a photography exhibition that runs until November 26 in which GI Taipei is displaying a group of photographs taken between May 1989 and October 1990. What makes these photos meaningful is that all of the images collected by Deutsche Kinemathek-Museum f?r Film und Fernsehen were taken by local photographers rather than people in the public sector. These pictures also document several historical events of the time, such as the first democratic elections in East Germany. In this exhibition the GI is also providing a recording installation work showing a documentary in which Ulrich Wickert, the best-known broadcaster in Germany, interviewed his counterparts from France, the UK, the US and the USSR. These important records allow the audience to observe the fall of the Berlin Wall from several different perspectives.

The exhibition is followed by a movie session which is a joint event with the 2009 Taipei Golden Horse Film Festival. During the session, the GI will show five films including four documentaries - Nikolaikirche, Der Irrationale rest, Jeder Schweicht and Ein Traum in Erdbeerfolie-Comrade Couture - telling stories that happened in 1989. "This not only marks the fall of the Berlin wall, the year 1989 also symbolizes both the end of the cold war and the beginning of the democratic system in the Middle and East Europe,"?says Markus. Among these films, the movie Nikolaikirche (German for "church of Saint Nicholas"), directed by Frank Beyer, was edited from a true story in Leipzig, the largest city in East Germany.

In 1987 an increasing number of locals were opposed to the political system in East Germany and the Monday Pray for Peace organized by the church of Saint Nicholas gained support from more and more citizens. The government met this growing tide of public opinion with political threats and military suppression, however, up until the events of October 9, 1989.

GI Taipei has also invited Marco Wilms, the director of Ein Traum in Erdbeerfolie - Comrade Couture to attend the premiere of the Film Festival. Marco was a model in a fashion association in East Germany at the time. In his documentary, he tried to depict the passion, enthusiasm and dreams of the people in the fashion industry during the communist-ruled period, allowing Taiwanese artists to realize how the German artists survived and expressed their thoughts about art during a period of great political tension.

In addition to the movie session, GI Taipei plans a symposium on November 9 to help Taiwan's people better understand the history of the Berlin Wall and the East German government. In this symposium J?rn Mothes, a German human rights fighter and an officer handling dossiers for East Germany's secret police, has been invited to deliver a keynote speech.