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This autobiographic (and thus highly subjective) text asks what motived a non-Eastern European, born in 1955 in West Germany, to become a historian of Eastern Europe. The answers are, on the one hand, an interest in (Slavic) languages and (Cold War) politics, and, to a lesser extent, family background, and, on the other, coincidence and the opportunities for fellowship. Part 1 of the article traced the author’s biography from his high-school years to his first modest academic achievements. Part 2 covers his professional path till retirement in 2021 – leading not only to universities like Uppsala, Hamburg, and finally Leipzig, but also into international institutions outside academia, such as the Slavic Unit of the British Military Government of Berlin, the CSCE / OSCE missions of long-duration in Macedonia and Moldova (in particular in the Dnestr region and Gagauzia), and – as founding director – to the Danish-German European Centre for Minority Issues (ECMI) in Flensburg.

This autobiographic (and thus highly subjective) text asks what motived a non-East European, born in 1955 in West Germany, to become a historian of Eastern Europe. The answers are, on the one hand, an interest in (Slavic) languages and (Cold War) politics, and, to a lesser extent, family background, and on the other, coincidence and, not the least, fellowship opportunities. Part 1 of the article traces the author’s biography from his high-school years in Baden-Württemberg to universities and research institutions in Tübingen, West Berlin, Sofija, Skopje, and Bloomington, Indiana, from 1969 to 1981 – including his first modest academic achievements. Part 2 covers his professional path till retirement in 2021.