Deutsches Haus
Deutsches Haus, founded in 1911, was the first foreign language house established at an American university. Once a major center of Germanic language and cultural studies in New York, Columbia's Deutsches Haus has ceded its position in recent years to NYU's, though it still manages to attract a handful of interesting speakers and events.
In addition to its German affiliations, DH is also affiliated with the Dutch, Finnish, Swedish, and Yiddish programs. Originally located in a now-demolished townhouse on 117th Street, where it was near the Frankfurt School's Institute for Social Research, it is now in the King's Crown building at 420 W. 116th St., designed by Naville and Bagge and built in 1906.
After being tried for "insulting Turkishness" in his native country, Nobel-prize winning author Orhan Pamuk took refuge here to write his latest novel. Consequently, he was at Columbia when the Nobel Prize announcement came.
