King Carl XVI Gustaf and Queen Silvia of Sweden visit the university on 4 May

On 4 May, King Carl XVI Gustaf and Queen Silvia of Sweden will visit the University of Tartu during their state visit to Estonia. University members are invited to greet the royal couple in the university assembly hall, in front of the main building, and at the monument to Gustav II Adolf.

The official delegation will include representatives of the Swedish government, the embassy and the royal house. Sweden’s King and Queen will visit Estonia at the invitation of President Alar Karis. The President and Mrs Sirje Karis will accompany them throughout the visit.

At 11:25, Mayor Urmas Klaas meets the royal couple and the official delegation on Town Hall Square. They walk together towards the main building of the University of Tartu. At 11:40, Rector Toomas Asser with his spouse will greet them in front of the main building. Everybody is invited to greet Their Majesties on Town Hall Square and in front of the main building.

Then, Rector Toomas Asser will deliver a speech in the assembly hall, and the King and the Queen of Sweden will sign the book of honour. A statement of intent will be signed aiming to bring the historic rector’s regalia  – two sceptres, a robe and seals – temporarily to Tartu and to be displayed in the university’s museum to mark the 400^th anniversary of the University of Tartu. The regalia are currently stored in the Nordic Museum in Stockholm. The university members and all interested are invited to attend the ceremony in the assembly hall at 11:20. As the number of places is limited, please register online on 2 May at the latest. Those who have registered will receive more detailed information by email.

The royal couple will then proceed to the statue of Gustav II Adolf, where people can meet them. After that, the delegation will go to the University of Tartu Museum and further to the Delta centre, where he learns about the opportunities of cooperation between Estonia and Sweden, Estonia’s research-intensive companies and the university’s influential areas of study and research. On the same day, the university hosts the Swedish business delegation who takes a tour of the UT Estonian Biobank and meets with representatives of Estonian enterprises at the Delta centre.

The state visit of Sweden’s King Carl XVI Gustaf and Queen Silvia takes place from 2–4 May. On 4 May, the King of Sweden also pays a visit to the Estonian University of Life Sciences and the Estonian National Museum, and plants a tree in the Tähtvere dendrological park.

The royal couple of Sweden visited Estonia in April 1992, soon after Estonia had regained its independence, and made a second visit in May 2002. In October 2007, Queen Silvia participated in the 375^th-anniversary celebrations of the University of Tartu. Sweden’s Crown Princess Victoria and Prince Daniel made official trips to Estonia in 2014 and 2018.