I admire Germany, its culture and its ability to evolve and lead, while acknowledging its mistakes and striving to reckon with them. Among them are two German figures I came to know well in Cairo, both of whom left me with a lasting impression of a human and cultural model worth reflecting on: Felix Haala and Wiebke Bachmann. When Felix Haala oversaw cultural affairs at the German Embassy in Cairo, he was not a diplomat in the conventional sense. Dr Wiebke Bachmann represents another complementary model, approached through the gateway of education. In both cases, culture and education do not appear as secondary tools within German policy, but as part of its deep structural foundations.

Source: Daily News Egypt January 27, 2026 17:49 UTC