Frozen Identities from Viipuri to Helsinki

Forced Migration, “Nazification” and Europeanization of German Protestants in Finland (1940-1993)

My research project explores contemporary European migration history through the case of the displaced German Protestant parish of Viipuri (Wiborg) in Finnish Karelia. Originating from trade-related migration since the late Middle Ages, this parish exemplifies broader 20th-century patterns of forced displacement. After the 1940 Moscow Peace Treaty and the subsequent evacuation of Karelia, the German Protestants were forced to leave their centuries-old urban home and resettle in Turku and Helsinki. This abrupt flight profoundly altered their social status and identity: once part of Viipuri’s political elite, they were now suspected of being Nazis. In contrast to dominant Finnish historiography — shaped by Cold War-era Finlandisation — which portrays the Karelian expulsion as a model of successful resettlement, the experiences of this community have remained largely invisible. My project seeks to explore their overlooked narrative, integrating it  into the broader context of European cultural and religious history and finally reassessing Finnish-German relations and the endurance of confessional identities in post-1945 Europe.