Joachim Erwin (2 September 1949 – 20 May 2008) was a German politician and the Mayor of Düsseldorf from 1999 until his death in 2008. He was born in

Stadtroda Stadtroda (Roda until 1925) is a town of 6,653 people (2017), located in Thuringia Thuringia (; german: Thüringen ), officially the Free State of Thuringia ( ), is a state of central Germany, covering , the sixth smallest of the sixteen Ger ...

Thuringia Thuringia (; german: Thüringen ), officially the Free State of Thuringia ( ), is a state of central Germany, covering , the sixth smallest of the sixteen German states. It has a population of about 2.1 million. Erfurt is the capital and lar ...

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG),, is a country in Central Europe. It is the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany lies between the Baltic and North Sea to the north and the Alps to the sou ...

. Erwin was a member of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU). Erwin was married with Hille Erwin and had two children. Erwin was elected

Mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilities of a mayor as well as ...

Düsseldorf Düsseldorf ( , , ; often in English sources; Low Franconian and Ripuarian: ''Düsseldörp'' ; archaic nl, Dusseldorp ) is the capital city of North Rhine-Westphalia, the most populous state of Germany. It is the second-largest city in ...

in 1999. He was credited with helping the city of Düsseldorf get rid of its pressing

debts Debt is an obligation that requires one party, the debtor, to pay money or other agreed-upon value to another party, the creditor. Debt is a deferred payment, or series of payments, which differentiates it from an immediate purchase. The de ...

by selling off certain

assets In financial accounting, an asset is any resource owned or controlled by a business or an economic entity. It is anything (tangible or intangible) that can be used to produce positive economic value. Assets represent value of ownership that can b ...

, such as its stake in the RWE AG

utility As a topic of economics, utility is used to model worth or value. Its usage has evolved significantly over time. The term was introduced initially as a measure of pleasure or happiness as part of the theory of utilitarianism by moral philosoph ...

during his tenure in office. He also successfully led the effort to cut spending from Düsseldorf's

budget A budget is a calculation play, usually but not always financial, for a defined period, often one year or a month. A budget may include anticipated sales volumes and revenues, resource quantities including time, costs and expenses, environme ...

. (The city of Düsseldorf is currently populated by approximately 577,000 people and serves as headquarters to several major companies, including E.ON AG and

Metro AG Metro AG is a German multinational company based in Düsseldorf which operates business membership only cash and carry stores primarily under the Metro brand. Until 2020 it was also active in general retail business through Real division, w ...

, which is Germany's largest

retailer Retail is the sale of goods and services to consumers, in contrast to wholesaling, which is sale to business or institutional customers. A retailer purchases goods in large quantities from manufacturers, directly or through a wholesaler, an ...

. Joachim Erwin died on 20 May 2008 of colorectal cancer in

at the age of 58.

References

1949 births 2008 deaths People from Stadtroda Christian Democratic Union of Germany politicians Mayors of Düsseldorf Deaths from colorectal cancer Deaths from cancer in Germany {{Germany-mayor-stub