The Baltic University in Exile was established in the displaced persons camps in Germany to educate refugees from Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania in the aftermath of the Second World War. The University was established at Hamburg in the British Zone of Occupation in March 1946, with aid from UNRRA, the Lutheran World Federation, and other groups. In early 1…The Baltic University in Exile was established in the displaced persons camps in Germany to educate refugees from Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania in the aftermath of the Second World War. The University was established at Hamburg in the British Zone of Occupation in March 1946, with aid from UNRRA, the Lutheran World Federation, and other groups. In early 1947, it was moved to a former Luftwaffe barracks in Pinneberg and renamed the Displaced Person's Study Centre. The author of the idea of opening a university for the Baltic refugees abroad was Latvian physicist and professor Fricis Gulbis, also the first president of the Baltic University. The University's following presidents were Vladas Stanka and Eduards Šturms, assisted by three national rectors. The Estonian astronomer Ernst Öpik became its first Estonian rector, Latvian historian Edgars Dunsdorfs the first Latvian rector and the Lithuanian archaeologist, Jonas Puzinas, was Lithuanian rector from April 1948 to September 1949. Because many of the staff and students had found homes in other countries, the University was closed in September 1949.
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