In this essay, the author investigates the cultural politics that the two German States (Federal Republic and German Democratic Republic) developed in Italy during the Cold War, from the first contacts established after the Second World War to the late 1960s. Over these two decades, a noticeable evolution took place: while the earlier phase was marked by rather limited exchanges, in the mid-Fifties both States initiated a conscious cultural policy, which progressively saw open competition between the Federal Republic and the Democratic Republic, especially during the Sixties.
The essay focuses on the activities of the two most significant institutions based in Rome: the Deutsche Bibliothek, supported by the West-German embassy and the Foreign ministry, on the one hand, and the Thomas Mann Centre, supported by the Gdr and the Pci and led by Italian intellectuals, on the other. The author examines diverse sources, both German and Italian, including those from the respective Foreign ministries and those of the two organisations under study.