Germany’s Cultural Week inagurated on October 31 is being hosted by cultural city of Shiraz, southern Iran, to commemorate the great Iranian poet ‘Hafez’ and the German ‘Goethe.’ Two hundred years ago, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749–۱۸۳۲)- German poet and philosopher- released the West-Eastern Diwan which is a collection of poems in Persian style with inspirations from Hafez, the great Iranian poet who was living in Shiraz, southern Iranian province of Fars, in 14th century.Divan-e Hafez is the greatest and most professional work of the Iranian poet.

Many cultural figures involved in the Iranian and German literature were presented in Germany’s Cultural Week to speak about strong tie among the two poets after many years.It was two centuries ago that Goethe wrote his West-Eastern Diwan (West–östlicher Divan in German language) to build inseparable ties between West and East civilizations.
Germany’s Cultural Week is to be held under the German Embassy’s plan and hosted by Shiraz with cooperation of the city’s municipality to mark anniversary of publishing Goethe’s Divan.
What draws attention to this cultural event is the mixture of West and East cultures made by Goethe’s realization from Hafez.By publishing West-Eastern Diwan, Goethe learned about Hafez and started learning about the East, according to scholars.The event takes place on the anniversary of the publication of ‘West–östlicher Divan’ (West–Eastern Divan), which German author Johann Wolfgang von Goethe wrote between 1814 and 1819, inspired by Hafez’s poems.Prominent figures from both Iranian and German art and literary circles, including Oscar-winning German film director Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck, and German film director, producer and author Doris Dörrie, will take part at the event to discuss the heartfelt links between these two preeminent poets.