Professor Dr.-Ing. Heinrich Mecking has passed away
Mecking was the first elected president and honorary senator of TU Hamburg
10.11.2025
“Whatever Hamburg’s political goals may be, Hamburg should be able to afford a modern and efficient TU, also for the sake of its future.” — Heinrich Mecking at the celebratory ceremony on his farewell as president of TU Hamburg(-Harburg) in 1993
Heinrich Mecking was born in 1930 in Klein-Reken. After finishing high school, he first trained as a miner in the coal mining industry of his native Westphalia. Until 1955, he worked at the Fürst Leopold Baldur coal mine in Hervest Dorsten. In 1955, he began studying physics at the University of Cologne, which then took him via the University of Münster to the RWTH Aachen, where he graduated with a diploma in 1962, earned his doctorate in 1967, and habilitated in 1973. Numerous research stays, especially in the USA, enriched his scientific work. In recognition of his scientific achievements, the German Materials Society (DGM) awarded Heinrich Mecking the Tammann Memorial Medal in 1978 and the Heyn Memorial Medal in 1997.
In 1980, Mecking was appointed as one of the first professors at the newly established Hamburg University of Technology (TUHH) to represent materials physics and technology in research and teaching. From 1987 to 1993, Professor Mecking was the first elected president of TUHH. During this time, many important decisions for TUHH were made. Construction phases I, II, and III were realized on campus, and the personnel and structural expansion of TUHH was politically secured. For the first time nationwide, a global budget was introduced at the young TUHH; in 1992, following his decision, the first technology transfer office of a university, TuTech at TUHH, was converted into an independent company. A visible sign of intensive cooperation with industry was the groundbreaking for the Hamburg-Finkenwerder Technology Center (THF). This new form of cooperation between university and industry as a public-private partnership was conceived and implemented with Daimler Benz Aerospace Airbus GmbH; it also included an endowed professorship in aircraft systems engineering. In 1992, under the aegis of TUHH president Mecking, another endowed professorship for water management and water supply was established at the initiative of the Hamburg water utilities. As the first elected president, Mecking made a decisive contribution to the consolidation and further development of the young TUHH from 1987 to 1993.
Above all, he succeeded in setting the course for the personnel and structural extension of the university. Under his leadership, the strategic development of the university in research and teaching was strongly shaped. Moreover, he was responsible for the reorganization of interdisciplinary research priorities and the development of materials science into a Center of Excellence of international renown. As initiator and spokesperson of the DFG Collaborative Research Center 371 “Micromechanics of Multiphase Materials,” he significantly promoted the establishment of Hamburg University of Technology as a research university even after his presidency. Heinrich Mecking was a model as president and professor of TU Hamburg, as emphasized by the former Senator for Science, Prof. Leonhard Hajen, on the occasion of Mecking’s retirement in 1997. Mecking’s high personal commitment beyond his time as a professor was recognized in 2000 with the award of the title of honorary senator of TU Hamburg(-Harburg). From the beginning of his work for TUHH, Mecking was regarded as a consistently reliable and trustworthy conversational partner and negotiator. He was appreciated as a person and colleague among the faculty and highly respected by his staff, as well as by all employees of the still young Technical University. This esteem was also shown to him during his term by stakeholders and political figures. He was a good listener and formed his opinion by weighing his goal against the arguments around him. He was characterized by constructive pragmatism: always aiming to achieve what was possible, but also willing to compromise as long as the best solution remained the goal. His visionary guiding principle for building “his” Hamburg University of Technology was deeply shaped by his experience as a young person when the profession of engineer was still considered a classic academic advancement career. He combined his experience from his trained profession with the career path leading to becoming an engineer and materials scientist in academia.
Both in his scientific career and as president, Mecking embodied the guiding principles of TU Hamburg. He was an excellent scientist and an exemplary leader, deeply committed to people and humanity. Humility in personal demands distinguished him. Never absent was his humor shaped by his Westphalian homeland, with which he knew how to comment on seemingly complicated situations with cheerful composure, thereby also suggesting a solution: Why consider things unnecessarily complicated when they can also be simple? A typical anecdote of his concerned impatience in academic administration. When his chancellor addressed him about delayed responses from the faculty to an important project, over which Mecking was initially annoyed, he spontaneously commented: “As a professor, I always used to say: If the administration sets a deadline by letter, it’s probably not that important. If it really is important, my president will remind me.”
His dedication to science and his numerous offices fulfilled his life. Literally, like almost the entire “first generation of founders” of TU Hamburg-(Harburg), he lived in constant availability. Only at the end of his presidency did he take a long-planned short vacation with the joking words: “If there’s a fire at TU, don’t call me. It’s burning even without me. You have to extinguish it!” With Professor Dr.-Ing. Heinrich Mecking, TU Hamburg loses one of its founding fathers, a formative leader and decision-maker, a highly respected and meritorious scientist and humanist. Heinrich Mecking’s memory and name are enduring parts of the history of TU Hamburg. The members of TU Hamburg mourn one of their greats. Our heartfelt thoughts are with the Mecking family.
TUHH - Public Relations Office
Ruediger Bendlin
E-Mail: bendlin@tuhh.de
Phone: +49 40 428 78 3330
