diff --git a/configs/train.yaml b/configs/train.yaml
index 699f9df..abf5af6 100644
--- a/configs/train.yaml
+++ b/configs/train.yaml
@@ -61,6 +61,9 @@ monitor_mode: "max"
 # seed for random number generators in pytorch, numpy and python.random
 seed: null
 
+# path to pretrained pytorch-ie model that updates the weights of base model with pretrained pie model
+pretrained_pie_model_path: null
+
 # simply provide checkpoint path to resume training
 ckpt_path: null
 
diff --git a/src/train.py b/src/train.py
index 88ef652..ebe26e9 100644
--- a/src/train.py
+++ b/src/train.py
@@ -40,7 +40,10 @@
 import pytorch_lightning as pl
 from omegaconf import DictConfig
 from pie_datasets import DatasetDict
+from pie_modules.models import *  # noqa: F403
 from pie_modules.models.interface import RequiresTaskmoduleConfig
+from pie_modules.taskmodules import *  # noqa: F403
+from pytorch_ie import AutoModel
 from pytorch_ie.core import PyTorchIEModel, TaskModule
 from pytorch_ie.models import *  # noqa: F403
 from pytorch_ie.models.interface import RequiresModelNameOrPath, RequiresNumClasses
@@ -140,9 +143,28 @@ def train(cfg: DictConfig) -> Tuple[dict, dict]:
 
     # initialize the model
     model: PyTorchIEModel = hydra.utils.instantiate(
-        cfg.model, _convert_="partial", **additional_model_kwargs
+        cfg.model,
+        _convert_="partial",
+        # In the case of loading weights from a pretrained PIE model, we do not need to download the base (transformer) model in the model constructors. We disable that by passing is_from_pretrained=True in these cases.
+        is_from_pretrained=cfg.get("pretrained_pie_model_path", None) is not None,
+        **additional_model_kwargs,
     )
 
+    if cfg.get("pretrained_pie_model_path", None) is not None:
+        pie_model = AutoModel.from_pretrained(cfg["pretrained_pie_model_path"])
+        loaded_state_dict = pie_model.state_dict()
+        has_prefix_mapping = cfg.get("pretrained_pie_model_prefix_mapping", None) is not None
+        if has_prefix_mapping:
+            state_dict_to_load = {}
+            for prefix_from, prefix_to in cfg["pretrained_pie_model_prefix_mapping"].items():
+                for name, value in loaded_state_dict.items():
+                    if name.startswith(prefix_from):
+                        new_name = prefix_to + name[len(prefix_from) :]
+                        state_dict_to_load[new_name] = value
+        else:
+            state_dict_to_load = loaded_state_dict
+        model.load_state_dict(state_dict_to_load, strict=not has_prefix_mapping)
+
     log.info("Instantiating callbacks...")
     callbacks: List[Callback] = utils.instantiate_dict_entries(cfg, key="callbacks")