Russia’s cultural break with Germany got a profane reply, with the newspaper Tageszeitung answering the closure of the Goethe-Institut in Russian
The German newspaper Tageszeitung ran a profane Russian phrase on the cover of its September 4 online edition: “Goethe, to go fuck yourself!” The newspaper was reacting to the Kremlin’s decision to shut down Goethe-Institut branches in Russia in response to the closure of the Russian House in Berlin and the Russian consulate in Bonn. The grammatical error was intentional — the Russian phrase is a literal translation of the deliberately misspelled title of the popular 2013 comedy “Fack ju Göhte.” (Released in English-speaking markets under the title “Suck Me Shakespeer,” the film in Russia was titled Зачетный препод, or “Cool Teacher.”) At the bottom of the cover, the text reads: “Russia is shutting down the Goethe-Institut in Russia. It will no longer be able to promote international understanding.” Tageszeitung is known for its playful and often deliberately provocative headlines (1, 2, 3), many of which have sparked controversy.