Otto Eschweiler

Otto Johannes Josef Maria Eschweiler (born October 2, 1931 in Aachen ) is the former managing director of the Aachen Chamber of Commerce and Industry , Dutch honorary consul and sponsor of RWTH Aachen University .

education

Eschweiler attended the Kaiser-Karls-Gymnasium in Aachen and then studied economics at the Universities of Bonn and Cologne from 1952 to 1957. In 1955 he passed the exam as a graduate economist, in 1957 he received his doctorate. rer. pole. at the Rheinische Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität Bonn .

Professional background

In December 1955, Eschweiler began working as a scientific assistant at the Aachen Chamber of Commerce and Industry (IHK). In 1962 he became managing director for the areas of economics, industry and trade, international economic relations and public relations. At the same time he was appointed Deputy General Manager. In 1971 the general assembly appointed him general manager of the IHK. He held this position until his retirement in 1997.

Scientific activities

From 1987 to 1998 Eschweiler held a teaching position at the Rheinisch-Westfälische Technische Hochschule (RWTH) Aachen, Faculty of Economics. He held numerous individual lectures, among others at the Universities of Applied Sciences in Aachen and Sittard (Netherlands) and at the time of the change at the University of Mechanical Engineering Karl-Marx-Stadt in Chemnitz, today Chemnitz University of Technology .

Funding from RWTH Aachen

Eschweiler has been committed to RWTH Aachen University for several decades. He has been a member of the Board of Trustees since 1982 . He is involved in the sponsoring association of the university as well as in the committees of various chairs and institutions. Among other things, he was active at the Research Institute for Rationalization, at the Chair for International Technical and Economic Cooperation and at the Helmholtz Institute for Biomedical Technology . Until 2005 he was a member of the board of the Association for the Promotion of Economics at RWTH, which he co-founded. As a member of the board of trustees of the Otto Junker Foundation in Lammersdorf , he initiated the Otto Junker Prize for outstanding student achievements at the electrical engineering and metallurgy faculties at RWTH.

In 1981, Eschweiler drafted the first German cooperation agreement between a technical university and an IHK in the field of science funding. This Aachen contract was a model for other regions, similar to the agreement with the Aachen University of Applied Sciences (FH) and in 1985 with the Jülich Research Center . Eschweiler is considered to be the originator of the first and probably most successful business start-up center in Germany, which enabled RWTH Aachen graduates to pursue independent entrepreneurial activities. In addition, it has stimulated a wealth of collaborations, technology transfers and initiatives between science and industry. He has also written several articles on this.

German-Dutch relations

On October 30, 1989, Eschweiler took over the Dutch honorary consulate in Aachen. He resigned from office in 2001. In this and in the IHK function, he initiated several cross-border activities, such as the German-Dutch industrial park Avantis, the trade fair cooperation Maastricht and Aachen, the German-Dutch youth organization and nationwide the first cross-border skilled worker examinations in professions in the metal industry.

Eschweiler achieved the cooperation between the RWTH Aachen and the Rijks-Universiteit Maastricht in the field of economics and the mutual recognition of academic achievements. He stimulated medical collaboration between RWTH Aachen University and Maastricht University and the Marienhospital in Aachen .

Eschweiler was also committed to attracting graduates from Dutch universities to the Aachen economic region and ensured that Dutch companies were involved in the technology transfer of RWTH, the University of Applied Sciences and the Jülich Research Center. The Euriade , the largest youth culture festival in the Meuse-Rhine , was Eschweiler long as patron available.

Further engagements

Until 2001, Eschweiler was the head of the Administration and Business Academy in Aachen for many years. He was a member of the board of the German-Dutch Society until 2006, and has been a member of the board of trustees of the Catholic Marienhospital in Aachen for over three decades.

Honors

For his outstanding achievements, especially in the field of university funding and German-Dutch relations, Eschweiler received the Federal Cross of Merit on Ribbon (1991) and 1st class (1998). The Dutch Queen made him Knight of the Order of Orange Nassau in 1997 . In 1996 he was made an honorary senator of RWTH Aachen University and an honorary professor by the state of North Rhine-Westphalia.

Individual evidence

^ Announcement by the Prime Minister of December 8, 1989 (MBl. NW. 1990 p. 79). Ministerialblatt des Landes Nordrhein-Westfalen, accessed on April 16, 2017 .

personal data
SURNAME	Eschweiler, Otto
ALTERNATIVE NAMES	Eschweiler, Otto Johannes Josef Maria
BRIEF DESCRIPTION	German economist, general manager of the Aachen Chamber of Industry and Commerce and Dutch honorary consul
DATE OF BIRTH	October 2, 1931
PLACE OF BIRTH	Aachen

[1] Announcement by the Prime Minister of December 8, 1989 (MBl. NW. 1990 p. 79). Ministerialblatt des Landes Nordrhein-Westfalen, accessed on April 16, 2017 .