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Jan Hecker
Hecker in 2021
15th German Ambassador to China
In office 24 August 2021 – 5 September 2021
President	Frank-Walter Steinmeier
Chancellor	Angela Merkel
Preceded by	Clemens von Goetze [de]
Succeeded by	Frank Rückert (acting)
Personal details
Born	(1967-02-15)15 February 1967 Kiel, West Germany
Died	5 September 2021(2021-09-05) (aged 54) Beijing, China
Children	3
Education	University of Freiburg University of Grenoble University of Göttingen
Occupation	Lawayer, ambassador

Jan Hecker (15 February 1967 – 5 September 2021) was a German lawyer and diplomat. He was an advisor to German Chancellor Angela Merkel and a judge at the Federal Administrative Court, as well as an adjunct professor at the European University Viadrina. He died shortly after taking office as German ambassador to the People's Republic of China.

Life

Jan Hecker studied political science and law in Freiburg, Grenoble and Göttingen from 1988 to 1994. This was followed by a legal clerkship in the district of the Court of Appeal from 1994 to 1996. From 1996 to 1997, he participated in a postgraduate programme at the University of Cambridge and obtained a Master of Laws (LLM) degree. He obtained his doctorate in law in 1997 on the subject of European integration as a constitutional problem in France at the University of Göttingen.

Initially, he was employed by the two law firms Hengeler Mueller and Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer after his legal clerkship, but professional curiosity drew him away again just two years later. Hecker joined the Federal Ministry of the Interior at the end of 1999. During his time at the Federal Ministry of the Interior, he was seconded to the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution for two years, among other things.

In 2011 Hecker was appointed a judge at the Federal Administrative Court in Leipzig. In 2015 he was brought to Berlin as an advisor to chancellor Merkel. He grew to become a confidant of Merkel, especially influencing her foreign policy.

Hecker became ambassador to the People's Republic of China at the end of August 2021. He was expected to continue Merkel's policy of maintaining a balanced, but friendly relationship with the People's Republic of China. He died only a few days after taking office at the age of 54, having just completed the mandatory two weeks COVID-19 quarantine. German foreign minister Heiko Maas has stated that "Due to the circumstances of his death, we have no evidence that Jan Hecker's death is in any way related to his official function as German ambassador in Beijing".

See also

• Du Wei (diplomat), Chinese ambassador to Israel who also died shortly after taking office.

References

1. "The German ambassador to China, Jan Hecker, dies". Deutsche Welle. 6 September 2021. Retrieved 6 September 2021.
2. Leithäuser, Johannes (6 September 2021). "Sherpa der Kanzlerin". Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung. Retrieved 7 September 2021.
3. ^ Martin Knobbe, Georg Fahrion (6 September 2021). "Jan Hecker ist tot: Angela Merkels Mann in China". Der Spiegel (in German). Retrieved 6 September 2021.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
4. "Botschafter Dr. Jan Hecker". Auswärtiges Amt. Retrieved 6 September 2021.
5. "Duitse ambassadeur in China en vertrouweling van Merkel dood". NRC (in Dutch). Retrieved 6 September 2021.
6. "Deutscher Botschafter in China gestorben". Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung. 6 September 2021. Retrieved 6 September 2021.

• 1967 births
• 2021 deaths
• Ambassadors of Germany to China
• German diplomats
• Grenoble Alpes University alumni
• People from Kiel
• University of Freiburg alumni
• University of Göttingen alumni