Mourning for Hermann-Josef Blanke

Hermann-Josef Blanke is a founding member of the Faculty of Economics, Law and Social Sciences. Since 2000 he was holder of the Professorship for Public Law, International Law and European Integration. After studying Law and Romance Studies at the Universities of Bonn, Madrid and Florence and passing both state law examinations, he received his doctorate from the University of Osnabrück in 1990 with a thesis on "Federalism and Integration Power - The Federal Republic of Germany, Spain, Italy and Belgium as Decentralized States in the EC" (Berlin: Duncker & Humblot, 1991). His habilitation at the University of Cologne with his study "Vertrauensschutz im deutschen und europäischen Verwaltungsrecht" (German and European Administrative Law) (Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2000) was followed by professorships at the Universities of Trier, Düsseldorf, Cologne and Bonn, before he accepted the call to the University of Erfurt and remained loyal to it.

The faculty has found Professor Blanke to be an extremely productive colleague with a wide range of interests. His fields of work and research have spanned German and foreign constitutional and administrative law as well as international law and European law. He was particularly committed to international exchange in research and teaching. The great, especially international recognition of Professor Blanke's work is expressed not only in visiting professorships he has held in Argentina, Brazil and Spain, but further in prestigious awards. In 2018, for example, he was awarded the Cross of Honor of the Order of "San Raimundo de Peñafort" by the Spanish Chamber of Deputies and Senate from the Spanish Minister of Justice. In 2021, he was honored by the European Commission with a "Jean Monnet Chair" for his achievements in the field of European integration.

With Hermann-Josef Blanke, the Faculty of Economics, Law and Social Sciences loses an outstanding jurist whose work seemed tireless and left its mark far beyond our campus. We will cherish the esteemed colleague's memory.

Professor Walter Bauer-Wabnegg (President of the University of Erfurt) and Professor Till Talaulicar (Dean of the Faculty of Economics, Law and Social Sciences)