So how is … Lilli Unrau doing?

And everyone went home with gifts ... Lilli Unrau

There are people for whom the word "retirement" is not suitable. One of these ever dynamic personalities is Lilli Unrau. She was born in the Urals, grew up in Kyrgyzstan (in the former Soviet Union), studied English and English literature and worked as a teacher in the Soviet Union. In 1989, she returned with her family to the homeland of her ancestors and quickly found a job at the Ost-Akademie, an educational institution funded by the German government, which was an affiliated institute of Leuphana University Lüneburg. When the federal government decided to stop funding the Ost-Akademie in 2003, this also meant a professional reorientation for Lilli. Where should she work now? Browsing through all the information she found in her mailbox at the Adventist Church in Lüneburg, her eyes fell on a job advert for the International Office at Friedensau Adventist University. This was going to be her new workplace.

Colleagues simply said: Ask Lilli!

From 2004 to 2019, she initially headed the International Office for three years and was then asked to join the Department of Theology as Dean's Secretary. From day one, Lilli was more than just an employee. Anyone who looks after the interests of international students is soon confronted with problems, some of them major. But for Lilli, problems were no reason for resignation; instead, they motivated her all the more to find solutions. After working hours in her office were over, she invited students to her home. Everyone was welcome. And everyone went home with a gift. And as far as the work in the Dean's Office was concerned, colleagues simply said: "Ask Lilli! She was a blessing for the university. She embodied something that used to be called the "Friedensau spirit": The willingness to do more than was absolutely necessary.

Active even in retirement

When she retired, she moved close to her children in Boizenburg. It was clear from the start that it would not be a retirement of doing nothing! Lilli enjoys visiting other countries and meeting new people far too much for that. It didn't take long before she was fully involved again. Initially with her grandchildren, of course, but a little later she was helping children who needed support at school. At first it was a mini-job at a primary school and working with foreign children – Lilli is a teacher to her core. When the refugees from Ukraine arrived, her volunteer work continued to grow: dealing with the authorities, language lessons for older people, organising life in a foreign country, and integration into the community. And all this in retirement. Thank you, Lilli!

Dr. theol. Johannes Hartlapp