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Erck Rickmers (* April 29, 1964 in Bremerhaven) is a German entrepreneur, philanthropist and politician (SPD). He is the founder and main donor to the International Foundation for the Humanities and Social Change. As a politician he served as a member of the parliament of the state of Hamburg in 2011 and 2012.

Youth and Education Erck Rickmers represents the fifth generation in a family of entrepreneurs from North Germany, whose founder, Rickmer Clasen Rickmers, established the Rickmers shipyard in Bremerhaven in 1834. The Rickmers family has been continuously involved in shipping, trade and industry with independently owned companies ever since. Erck Rickmers grew up in Bremerhaven before attending the renowned boarding school Stiftung Louisenlund in Schleswig-Holstein from the age of 14. After receiving his Abitur certificate and completing his military service with the German Air Force, he qualified as a shipping merchant following an apprenticeship with the traditional Hamburg shipping company Ernst Russ. Among other positions, Rickmers subsequently worked as a ship broker at Harper Petersen & Co. in London. From 2015 to 2017 Rickmers successfully attended a Graduate Program leading to a M.A. degree in Religious Studies at the University of California Santa Barbara (UCSB).

Business Career In 1992 Rickmers co-founded the Hamburg-based investment company Nordcapital and became its sole shareholder in 1996. In 1998 he established the shipping company E.R. Schiffahrt, which became a leading ship management company for container vessels, bulk carriers and offshore supply ships. In 2008 Rickmers merged his assets under the umbrella of E.R. Capital Holding. He withdrew from active management in 2010 and acts as Chairman of the Group. Rickmers controls significant assets in real estate and corporate investments. Philanthropy

In 2016 Rickmers established the International Foundation for the Humanities and Social Change. The foundation aims at both, analyzing social change and developing concepts to influencing it to the betterment of humankind. It supports two research centers at the University of California and the University of Venice Ca’ Foscari with two further centers following 2017 in the UK and in Germany. Collaborative, interdisciplinary and international research following highest academic standards in the fields of philosophy, anthropology, religion, sociology, psychology, history, economics and literature are the foundation of the initiative. The objective is to provide new approaches, impulses and orientation with regard to the pressing socio-political issues of our time.

Political career Rickmers is a member of the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD). At the 2011 Hamburg state election, he successfully ran for the SPD, received a high number of direct votes and subsequently became a member of the Hamburg Parliament. During his time as a member of the Hamburg Parliament, Rickmers chaired the committee on economics, innovation and media and was a member of both the budget committee and the committee on public enterprises. Rickmers also belonged to the executive committee of the SPD parliamentary group.

Personal life Rickmers is based in Hamburg, Germany. He has five daughters.