The Finnish Institute in Germany, founded in 1994, has been easy to find since 2004, being directly opposite the main station in Friedrichstrasse, Berlin. But the metropolitan nature of its site should not blind visitors to the fact that the institute organises events in all 16 federal states as well as in Austria and Switzerland. Since the start of 2005 it has been directed by the historian Marjaliisa Hentilä PhD from the University of Helsinki.

When the institute opened in 1994, Finland was about to join the European Union. Since then the institute has been serving Finnish art and culture, science and research, technology and economics throughout all German speaking parts of Europe. As an information and contact centre, the institute provides help on request, such as feasible contacts in the fields of research or the arts, or available places for study or training in Finland. The library also has about 4000 books and 9 current issues of newspapers, about 400 CDs and many magazines, most of them in German, Finnish, Swedish or English, for direct reference. The institute also offers a varied programme of events, including seminars on specific topics, exhibitions, concerts, readings by authors, film and choreography evenings, lectures and so on. The programmes are planned to be high quality and up to date and to present mainly new ideas, developments and personalities. For the sake of putting events on, the Finnish Institute looks for close cooperation with public and private institutions in Germany and Finland. Besides having published various books in the internet and as a publishing company in its own right, the institute has also commissioned a series of writings.

Behind the institute stands the private foundation for the Finnish Institute in Germany, which is sited in Helsinki and appoints the institute’s director. Its curatorium is made up of 28 Finnish organisations, most of them public, including several universities and art and scientific institutions, as well as economic and friendship associations. The institute is financed through the Finnish Ministry of Education.