Suomi-Saksa: Die deutschfinnische „Kulturzeitschrift“

From September 1941 to the summer of 1943, the Berliner Fremdsprachen-Verlagsgesellschaft published the Finnish-language magazine Suomi-Saksa. Saksalais-suomalainen kulttuurilehti (Finnish-German. German-Finnish Cultural Magazine). The editor-in-chief was Dr Herta von Grönhagen, and in addition to the Berlin headquarters, the editorial team also had an office in Helsinki. Suomi-Saksa was a publication designed specifically for the Finnish public with emphasis on the „Waffenbrüderschaft“ (brotherhood-in-arms) and close cultural relations between the two countries. The aim of Suomi-Saksa was to provide a weekly overview of cultural and economic life in Germany and of German-Finnish co-operation. In just under two years, more than 60 issues were published with hundreds of short articles and photo reports. Of the more than 300 authors mentioned by name, only 43 were native Finnish speakers, meaning that the vast majority of the articles were translations from German. The thematic variation was quite large, the proportion of cultural topics rather low. Suomi-Saksa is occasionally mentioned in the relevant literature, and individual articles are sometimes quoted, but there are no detailed studies of the magazine. This article is intended to provide an initial overview of the historical-cultural context and thematic focus of Suomi-Saksa, with a focus on contributions by Finnish authors.