Announcement | Cerstin Gammelin Joins As John F. Kennedy Memorial Policy Fellow

Cerstin Gammelin, Spokesperson for Germany’s President,

Joins CES as Kennedy Policy Fellow

Cambridge, MA – The Minda de Gunzburg Center for European Studies (CES) at Harvard University is pleased to announce that Cerstin Gammelin, spokesperson for Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier, will join CES as a John F. Kennedy Memorial Policy Fellow from October 6–31, 2026.

Born in the former GDR and originally trained as an engineer, Gammelin shifted to journalism in 1989, the year of the Berlin Wall’s dismantling. Her award-winning media career spanned over three decades across several prominent German publications.

“We are delighted to welcome Cerstin Gammelin at a pivotal moment for Germany and transatlantic relations,” said Daniel Ziblatt, Director of CES. “Her experience in journalism, public service, and eastern Germany gives her particularly valuable insights on the country’s political direction. We look forward to the perspective she will bring to our community and to the broader conversation about Germany’s role in Europe and the transatlantic alliance.”

During her time at CES, Gammelin will give two public talks at Harvard:

October 7: Germany's 2026 Regional Elections: The AfD's Breakthrough Year?
October 10: Trade Without Trust? The Future of the Transatlantic Economic Order

Contact:

Gila Naderi, Director of Communications

Minda de Gunzburg Center for European Studies, Harvard University gilanaderi@fas.harvard.edu

ces.fas.harvard.edu

Biography

Cerstin Gammelin has served as spokesperson for Germany's Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier since March 2022. Raised in the former GDR, she studied materials engineering at Chemnitz University of Technology. Following the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989, she built a journalism career working at leading German papers, including Der Spiegel, DIE ZEIT, and Süddeutsche Zeitung, where she was Brussels correspondent and later deputy head of the parliamentary office in Berlin. She is the author of three books on power politics in Brussels, Germany's economic power players, and the East's influence on German politics. She received the Keynes Society's Prize for Economic Journalism in 2022.

About the Fellowship

The John F. Kennedy Memorial Policy Fellowship was established in 1967 at Harvard University to facilitate the exchange of knowledge and ideas between the Harvard community and leading German academics, policymakers, and journalists. It is among the most prestigious awards at CES, with a long history of supporting Germany’s most outstanding thinkers to share their research, writing, and ideas and benefit from the intellectual atmosphere and resources of Harvard to advance their academic and professional goals.

Where Harvard & Europe Meet Since 1969