Former Ambassador Christoph Eichhorn Visits the State Library of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania
Former Ambassador Christoph Eichhorn, as a diplomat, witnessed the fall of the Berlin Wall and the peaceful revolution of 1989 at the Embassy of the Federal Republic of Germany in Moscow. He worked in places where history was being made: in Moscow, when the Soviet Union collapsed; in Washington on September 11, when hijacked planes crashed into the towers of the World Trade Center and the Pentagon; as an arms control envoy when Russia annexed Crimea in 2014 and took German hostages; and as German ambassador to Estonia, a leading digital nation, and Bulgaria, an IT hub. Four decades of foreign policy from the inside. What insights and experiences can be useful today for our German and European interests in the faltering international order?
Christoph Eichhorn served as German ambassador to Estonia and Bulgaria and as chargé d’affaires in Washington. His four decades of experience as a diplomat include, among other things, nine years in the U.S. as chargé d’affaires at the German Embassy and as an exchange diplomat specializing in Ukraine policy at the U.S. State Department. There, he witnessed the September 11, 2001, attacks and the Iraq War. During the historic transition of 1989–1992, he worked at the embassy in Moscow. In Bonn and Berlin, he served as a speechwriter and parliamentary advisor on the Federal Foreign Minister’s executive staff, headed the U.S. / Canada Division and served as Deputy Federal Government Commissioner for Disarmament and Arms Control during Russia’s first invasion of Ukraine in 2014.
As a keynote speaker, he now advises companies, institutions, and universities on digitalization and cybersecurity, foreign and security policy, geopolitical factors in business strategies, fake news and disinformation, and intercultural skills for companies.
He began his career as a journalist and host for ARD radio stations and as a consultant for EU projects. He studied history, politics, constitutional law, European law, and international law in Bonn, Berlin, Brussels, and at the London School of Economics.
On September 14, Christoph Eichhorn will be a guest at the State Library of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern starting at 7:00 p.m. He will speak about his life as an ambassador and answer questions from the audience.
The event is being held in cooperation with the German Atlantic Society (Deutsche Atlantische Gesellschaft e.V.) and the State Agency for Political Education of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania. Admission is free. No advance registration is required.
The Mecklenburg-Vorpommern State Library “Günther Uecker” traces its origins to the Ducal Government Library, founded in 1779, and, as a critical infrastructure, preserves significant historical collections as well as a large collection of works from and about Mecklenburg-Vorpommern. The state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern has legally mandated the State Library in Schwerin to collect, catalog, and archive the state’s current printed works for the future. According to state law and the regulation governing the deposit of printed works, all printed materials published in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern must be deposited with the State Library free of charge within one month of publication. The State Library acquires titles about Mecklenburg-Vorpommern that are published outside the state. The State Library is a department of the State Office for Culture and Historic Preservation. The historic building at its location on Johannes-Stelling-Straße is now part of Schwerin’s UNESCO World Heritage Site.
