The University of Greifswald’s Department of Baltic Studies celebrated its 20th anniversary in 2011. Since 1991, students in Greifswald have had the opportunity to study the languages, literatures and cultures of Lithuania and Latvia.
In 1991, Baltic Studies was established as a subject at the University of Greifswald. Just two years later, an independent Department of Baltic Studies emerged. The founding document was signed on 18 May 1993 by the Rector at that time, Prof. Dr. Hans-Jürgen Zobel. This was essentially a political and higher education policy decision in the wake of the German reunification. Under the first Head of the Department, Prof. Dr. Rainer Eckert, Greifswald’s Department of Baltic Studies quickly made a name for itself in Latvia and Lithuania, as well as in Scandinavia. In April 1997, Prof. Dr. Jochen Dieter Range from the University of Munich was appointed professor in Greifswald. During his term, he shifted the department’s profile to increasingly embrace socio-political issues, alongside philological research and teaching. The current Head of the Department, Prof. Dr. Stephan Kessler, studied at the University of Münster, where he also completed his doctorate. When he was appointed professor, Dr. Kessler had already earned his habilitation in Baltic Studies in Greifswald. During his term as third Head of the Department of Baltic Studies, he steered the chair towards modern linguistics and literary studies. As the home of the only Baltic Studies chair in Germany, the University of Greifswald regularly seizes the opportunity to present the subject and the cultural diversity of the Baltic region. In addition to research, the current challenges in teaching include the expansion of the Baltic Studies bachelor’s degree course and the development of interdisciplinary master’s programmes that meet the expectations of students not only from Germany and the Baltic states, but also from other countries around the world.