We miss Prof. Dr. Christian Watrin, who passed away on December the 1st, 2020 in the circle of his family. We are deeply saddened and mourn the loss of our former colleague.
After studying Economics and Business Administration at the University of Cologne, Christian Watrin became an assistant to Alfred Müller-Armack in 1955. He received his doctorate in 1957 and his habilitation in 1963. After several vocations at other renowned universities, he returned to the University of Cologne in 1971, where he took the chair in Economic Policy and became director of the Institute for Economic Policy. He remained in this position until his retirement in 1995.
Prof. Dr. Watrin also impressed with his scientific competence, which he always willingly brought to practical policy advice and thus also helped to shape German and European economic policy. He served as a member of the Scientific Advisory Council to the Federal Ministry of Economics and took over its chairmanship during the important years of German reunification from 1987 to 1992, for which he was awarded the Federal Cross of Merit, First Class.
For decades he was a prominent advocate of the market economy, competition and freedom. His academic work included numerous essays and lectures. He received the Friedrich August von Hayek Medal in 2005 and was co-editor of the journal Wirtschaftspolitik and the Ordo-Jahrbuch until his passing.
His international contacts and guest lectures took him to Georgetown University, the University of Vienna, Princeton University and Oxford University.
We mourn the loss of our former colleague and wish his family much strength for this difficult time.