Mourning for Professor Dr. Dieter Eckstein

With Dieter Eckstein, the Thünen Institute for Wood Research has lost a highly appreciated, com-mitted and popular person who will be sorely missed as a colleague, mentor and friend.

Dieter Eckstein studied wood economics at the University of Hamburg. After completing his docto-rate (1969) under the guidance of Prof. Dr. h.c. Walter Liese on the subject of dendrochronology for determining the age of the Haithabu settlement, he established dendrochronology as a pioneer in this field. Remarkably, he also succeeded in doing so across the political East-West borders that existed at the time. Dendrochronology therefore remains associated with his name in Eastern Europe. His impressive achievements in the fields of dendrochronology, dendroecology and dendro-climatology have resulted in almost 300 publications.

However, Dieter Eckstein's achievements are not limited to his own research areas. He was also particularly concerned about the next generation of scientists, whom he supported with extraordi-nary energy and wide-ranging expertise. Many of the graduates he supervised now hold influential positions in Germany, Europe and worldwide. He also initiated intensive scientific exchange with numerous domestic and foreign institutes, from which all his colleagues in Hamburg benefited.

From 1995 until his retirement in 2004, he headed the Institute for Wood Biology and Wood Protec-tion at the former Federal Research Institute for Forestry and the Timber Industry, which he additi-onally managed as director from 2000 to 2003. Even after his retirement, he continued to provide advice and support, especially to Hamburg's wood biology. His office door was always open.

We will remember Dieter Eckstein with great gratitude and respect.