Summer Programs of the Linguistic Center of PetrSU

The borders are opening and the Linguistic Center of PetrSU welcomes foreign students for programs on campus.

Monika Theil came from Germany in August and gleefully started studying the Russian language, culture and architecture.

Monika has been in Petrozavodsk before. She is writing a book about her father, who by a twist of fate found himself in Petrozavodsk as the prisoner of war. Before the war, Erich Hennes (Monika’s father) was an architect, and from 1945 till 1949 while in Petrozavodsk he has supervised the construction of the Sulazhgora Brickyard, as well as two residential houses and a bakery. Monika is interested in any information about post-war Petrozavodsk. And of course she was delighted to learn that the father of her Russian language teacher at the Linguistic Center Lazar Chinenov has worked as the chief architect of the city after the war. Liudmila Chinenova presented Monika a book about her father written by her brother, and introduced Monika to the book’s publisher Vitaly Nakonechny, who will design a book about Erich Hennes.

Monika Theil herself has worked as a music teacher at a large general school in Koln. She says that everyone in her family has been either an architect or a teacher.

It is very compelling to work with such “students”. Monika really enjoys studying the Russian language and learning about the culture, architecture and history of our country. It is a communication between people whose fates are woven by time and historic events. We hope that this is not Monika’s last visit to Petrozavodsk.