German doctor Thomas Zimmerer has built a new life in Estonia, earning the trust of patients and mastering the local language while excelling at East Tallinn Central Hospital.
Thomas Zimmerer grew up in Bad Mergentheim, a small town on the border of Bavaria and Baden-Württemberg in Germany. He met his Estonian wife in the German university town of Heidelberg in 2000. After that, they lived and worked in Mannheim for fourteen years, where the couple had two sons. In 2016, they decided to move to Estonia. Since then, Thomas has been working at East Tallinn Central Hospital, holding an extremely responsible medical position. If you sincerely compliment Thomas by saying that he speaks Estonian almost without an accent, he waves it off and says: “Oh, come on now!”
Before moving here, the family had visited Estonia several times – just to explore, look around, and bring the children to visit their grandparents. So, Thomas didn’t arrive in a completely unfamiliar place with all his belongings. “When we flew in from Germany, my father-in-law came to pick us up and deliberately drove past the German embassy on the way home. As if to say: look, you’re not alone here!” Thomas recalls with a smile.
German and Estonian cultural spaces are generally quite similar, Thomas believes, so living here hasn’t caused him any culture shock. One major difference he notes is that compared to Germany, Estonia is constantly changing and evolving. “German towns, with their streets and houses, sometimes remain unchanged for an extremely long time. But here, there’s constant activity – construction, movement, the cityscape is always shifting. Tallinn gets almost a new face every morning,” he says, somewhat exaggerating.
Language is not a barrier
Regarding Estonians, the German thinks that tales of extreme introversion might be somewhat overstated. Estonians are not as terribly reserved as jokes often claim. At some point in a conversation, they may shut down and not share overly intimate information with you, and in this respect, they may differ slightly from Germans. But that’s probably not a bad thing at all,” Thomas reflects. “When my wife and I met at university, she was a bit reserved, but not in a so-called Estonian way. It was probably a bit tough for her, being surrounded only by Germans,” he recalls.
In 2021, during East Tallinn Central Hospital’s year-end recognition ceremony, the most outstanding employees were honoured. And in the Doctor of the Year competition, the title went to none other than lead gastroenterologist Dr Thomas Zimmerer.
One might assume that practising medicine in a foreign country and in a language that is not one’s native tongue would be quite difficult. “For me, working in the Estonian language is not hard,” Zimmerer confirms. He is also praised in the hospital for fostering a friendly social environment. “I do struggle with communicating in Russian, and it’s crucial for me to be able to help my patients. But here, my colleagues – especially the nurses and clinic assistants – come to my aid to translate everything the Russian-speaking patient says and vice versa, ensuring my words are conveyed to them. This support is invaluable both for me and for the patient.”
A foreign doctor is respected
“Of course, patients notice that I am from somewhere else and not Estonian. But it seems they take it as a positive thing: look, my doctor is a foreigner and speaks flawless Estonian,” Dr Zimmerer muses. He has learned Estonian using various methods, but his children certainly played a big role in his language learning. He read Astrid Lindgren’s (a Swedish children’s author) books to them, and that process has stuck with him as an effective learning experience.
Thomas has never attended events organised by the German embassy. “I haven’t really felt the need,” he explains. “We visit Germany, and the children love it there, but that’s probably because they get presents at their grandparents’ house and have no obligations there. Germans don’t particularly seek out other Germans when living abroad,” Thomas reflects. He then jokes that his Latvian colleague gets visibly excited whenever he encounters another Latvian in Estonia.
“However, I do sometimes miss small, specialised pastry and sausage shops, as there aren’t many of those in Estonia,” he admits, adding that otherwise, everything here is quite similar.
His family does not particularly celebrate German traditions that differ from Estonian ones. Thomas does mention one, though – St Nicholas Day on 6 December, when Saint Nicholas brings gifts for children. “This tradition is a bit different in Germany. And I was just about to say we have advent calendars, but then I remembered – you already have those here, and they’ve been fully embraced,” he corrects himself.
Friendships and Estonian music
When asked whether he has formed friendships with local people, Thomas pauses to think. “Friends are not that easy to find. I have lots of wonderful colleagues and acquaintances, but friendship is something deeper. With a busy work schedule and a full family life, there aren’t many opportunities left to make entirely new friends,” he reflects.
Thomas likes Estonian music but cannot name any specific favourites off the top of his head. He praises Philly Joe’s Jazz Club on Freedom Square in Tallinn. “I love Arvo Pärt too, but you can’t listen to him all the time – you need a specific mood for that,” he explains.
The article is part of the media programme “Estonia with many faces,” which highlights the richness and diversity of Estonian culture. The programme is supported by the Estonian Ministry of Culture and co-financed by the European Union.
