Dr. Hans-Jürgen Heimsoeth

Dr. Hans-Jürgen Heimsoeth was born 1953 in Mussoorie, India, and spent his childhood years across several continents and countries, including Germany, the USA, Indonesia and Belgium, where he finished high school with a Baccalauréat from the European School of Brussels.

Subsequently, he read history, philosophy, German literature, and political sciences at the Freie Universität in Berlin (West), at Sciences Po Paris, and at the Albert-Ludwigs-Universität of Freiburg/ Breisgau, where he defended a doctoral thesis on the History of France  (The Collapse of the III.French Republic after the “drôle de guerre” 1939-1940) .

He entered diplomatic service with the German Federal Foreign Office (Auswärtiges Amt) in 1981 and held diplomatic postings in, amongst others, Bucarest, Moscow, Mogadishu, Brasilia, and Warsaw. From 1989 to 1994, Hans-Jürgen Heimsoeth was personal aide to German Federal President Richard von Weizsäcker. His later postings included Consul General in New York City (USA), Ambassador to Ukraine in Kiev, Ambassador to the OECD in Paris, and Ambassador to Sweden in Stockholm (2016-2019).