HE Anne Sipiläinen was accredited as the Ambassador of Finland in Germany by the President of the Federal Republic of Germany on 11 June 2019. She took over the management of the Finnish Embassy in Berlin a few days before Finland took on the presidency of the Council of the European Union on 1 July 2019. The most important stations of her long diplomatic career were Brussels, Vienna and Berlin.
The Ambassador started her first visit to Greifswald by following an invitation to the University of Greifswald’s Rectorate, where she was received by the Pro-Rector for Studying and Teaching, Prof. Dr. Steffen Fleßa. Ambassador Sipiläinen then held talks with representatives from the Chamber of Industry and Commerce Neubrandenburg, before being received by Greifswald’s Lord Mayor, Dr. Stefan Fassbinder, in the Town Hall, where she was honoured by signing the town’s ‘Golden Book’ (guest book).
The Ambassador held an opening lecture at the Department of Finnish and Scandinavian Studies that summarised Finland’s presidency of the Council of the European Union. This was followed by a presentation by Joachim Bussian, Head of the Press Office and the Language Department at the German Embassy in Helsinki, on the current portrayal of Germany in the Finnish press. The second half of the presentation programme provided information on current research projects at Greifswald’s Department of Finnish Studies. These projects range from language policy issues of today to research into prehistoric language contact in the Baltic Sea Region.
There is a long history of Finnish studies at the University of Greifswald. The first Finnish language department in the German-speaking world was founded at the Alma Mater in 1921. The creation of a Chair of Finnish Studies in 1976 is considered a pioneering achievement in the teaching of Finnish Studies in Germany.
The University of Greifswald is currently the only university in Germany that provides an independent BA degree course in Finnish Studies [de], which can be combined freely with Scandinavian Studies [de]. A master’s degree in Finnish Studies (language, culture, literature, translation) can be completed as part of the Language Diversity degree course [de].
Further Information
Chair of Finnish Studies [de]
Finnish Studies [de]
Greifswald’s Finnish Studies on Facebook
Contact at the University of Greifswald
Prof. Dr. Marko Pantermöller
Department of Finnish and Scandinavian Studies
Chair of Finnish Studies
Dean of Studies at the Faculty of Arts and Humanities
Tel.: +49 3834 420 3611 (Secretariat 3600)
Ernst-Lohmeyer-Platz 3, 17489 Greifswald
fennistikuni-greifswaldde