Jan Hecker

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 and education Hecker attended schools in Flensburg, Kiel, Wilhelmshaven and Oslo, Norway, achieving the abitur in Flensburg in 1986. Hecker, the son of a naval officer, served between 1986 and 1988 as a soldier in Eutin. He passed the second legal state exam in Berlin in 1996, followed by post-graduate studies at the University of Cambridge where he obtained a Master of Laws (LLM) degree in 1997. 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.

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 became 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. 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".