Germany will soon have two ambassadors in Ottawa, a novel arrangement for G7 bilateral relations with Canada.
Matthias Rüttenberg and Cholven Bermann, a married couple with three children, have been appointed as Germany’s new ambassadors to Ottawa.
“This is a new model for our family, but we’re excited about it,” Ruttenberg told CBC in an interview Saturday. house.
Once officially sworn in, the couple will rotate between ambassadorial duties, with Berman taking on the role first while Ruttenberg looks after the children.
“We rotate every eight months,” Ruttenberg said, “so one of us is the German ambassador to Canada and the other takes care of the children.”
The House7:03Two for one: Meet Germany’s new ambassador to Canada
Katherine Cullen has taken up her new post as Germany’s ambassador to Canada, in a novel arrangement for sharing diplomatic duties, and will be visiting parents of her three children, Matthias Ruttenberg and Tjorven Bellmann.
Both ambassadors are experienced diplomats: Bermann was the Political Director for Germany in the G7, while Rüttenberg was Director General for Eastern Europe at the German Foreign Ministry.
After more than a decade of intensive work in Berlin, the couple said their posting together was their last chance to spend time together before their children grew up.
This marks the first time such an arrangement has come to Ottawa — Germany has had similar joint ambassadorial roles in other countries, but not in a G7 capital. The two countries have built deep bilateral ties in recent years, including defense assistance for Ukraine and a deal to export hydrogen to Canada.
The couple told host Catherine Cullen that Canadians they spoke to had many questions about their ambassadorial appointments, many of which had to do with money.
“Yes, we share a salary together and I think we can survive,” Ruttenberg said.
Berman said Berlin adopted this new diplomatic model because of the changing job market and the needs of younger Germans in the diplomatic ranks. A similar joint ambassador model is also used by the Swedish, Slovenian and German consulates in Montreal.
“To remain an attractive employer to young people we want the best and the brightest people. They have demands. We felt we needed to make the service more flexible,” she said.
Karina Hauslmeyer, Deputy Chief of Mission at the German Embassy in Ottawa, outlined Germany’s multi-million dollar commitment to export hydrogen to Atlantic Canada.
The couple said they feel a responsibility to make the arrangement work, and that as roles change, maintaining a clear line between work and home life will be a challenge.
“I think at the end of the day it’s all about communication. You have to communicate with each other,” Berman said. “The advice we received was to separate roles, not confuse them, and make it clear who is responsible for what and when, so it’s clear not only to the staff, but also to the host country and the kids.”
“For us, it’s a new experiment. We’re going to grow with it, get through it and do well. We’ll definitely do our best.”
