RESEARCH ACROSS THE GLOBE
The German Archaeological Institute is an internationally active research institution subordinate to Germany's Federal Foreign Office. In addition to its archaeological research worldwide and its commitment to the protection and preservation of cultural heritage, the DAI is an important participant in Germany's foreign cultural and education policies. With a total of eleven substantial branches – the head office in Berlin, three commissions in Bonn, Frankfurt am Main, and Munich, as well as seven departments stationed in Athens, Berlin, Istanbul, Cairo, Madrid, and Rome – the DAI is active both at home and abroad. The departments and commissions oversee further field offices in Tehran, Sana'a, Baghdad, Damascus, and Beijing, as well as research centres in Lisbon, Ulaanbaatar, and Budapest which all contribute to a closely knitted cooperation with colleagues and institutions in the host countries. The same is also the case for the associated research projects run in conjunction with the branches of the German Protestant Institute of Ancient Studies of the Holy Land (Deutsches Evangelisches Institut für Altertumswissenschaft des Heiligen Landes, DEI) in Jerusalem and Amman, which have been DAI research centres since 2005. Individual local offices and local excavation houses complement the institute's global research infrastructure.
The priorities of the research carried out at the departments and commissions follow globally conceived directives for archaeology and geography which, rather delimited by modern state borders, remain focussed on past cultural expanses. This indeed forms an incentive for interdisciplinary cooperation between the departments and the commissions. Adaptable structures and research programmes enable the DAI to readily respond at any time to the changing requirements within both scientific research and culture politics.
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Cross-section & service areas
Some of the work areas based at the DAI's headquarters in Berlin also contribute their expertise to the Institute's locations around the world. In this way, the head office and the DAI's locations around the world work together to fulfil their tasks, taking advantage of synergies and saving resources.
© Picture Alliance // Daniel Kalker
Federal Foreign Office
For almost 150 years, the German Archaeological Institute has been a research institution within the Federal Foreign Office. As a partner in cultural and scientific diplomacy, the DAI's global network makes it a key player in Germany's foreign cultural, educational and scientific policy. Its work contributes to many areas such as global cultural preservation, the sustainable development goals, economic cooperation and development, feminist and digital foreign policy.