in 1959 he was recalled to bonn, seat of the west german government, and appointed "ministerialdirektor" and head of the cultural department at the foreign ministry. as the political tensions between east and west germany spilled over into the cultural sphere, his seven years in the office coincided with a period of significant "soft power" investment. on sattler's initiative the goethe institute gradually took over all of the german cultural institutes abroad that fell within the ambit of the west german government. sattler's objective was to anchor activities of the culturally focused german overseas institutions more firmly within the country's overall foreign policy strategy, which in some ways reflected his own life and career, using diplomatic instincts and personal panache to bring together the worlds of the arts and of politics.