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Christoph Möllers (born 7 February 1969 in
Bochum Bochum (, ; ; ; ) is a city in North Rhine-Westphalia. With a population of 372,348 (April 2023), it is the sixth-largest city (after Cologne, Düsseldorf, Dortmund, Essen and Duisburg) in North Rhine-Westphalia, the most populous German federa ...
) is a German legal scholar. He holds the Chair of Public Law, in particular Constitutional Law, and Philosophy of Law at
Humboldt University of Berlin The Humboldt University of Berlin (, abbreviated HU Berlin) is a public research university in the central borough of Mitte in Berlin, Germany. The university was established by Frederick William III on the initiative of Wilhelm von Humbol ...
.


Biography

Möllers grew up in Bochum as the son of literary scholars. He began studying law and philosophy at the
University of Tübingen The University of Tübingen, officially the Eberhard Karl University of Tübingen (; ), is a public research university located in the city of Tübingen, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. The University of Tübingen is one of eleven German Excellenc ...
in 1989. From 1991, he studied law and comparative literature at the
University of Munich The Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich (simply University of Munich, LMU or LMU Munich; ) is a public university, public research university in Munich, Bavaria, Germany. Originally established as the University of Ingolstadt in 1472 by Duke ...
, passing his first state exam ( J.D.-equivalent) in 1994 and completing his second state exam in Berlin in 1997. He obtained a Master of Laws (
LL.M. A Master of Laws (M.L. or LL.M.; Latin: ' or ') is a postgraduate academic degree, pursued by those either holding an undergraduate academic law degree, a professional law degree, or an undergraduate degree in another subject. In many jurisdi ...
) from the
University of Chicago The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, or UChi) is a Private university, private research university in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Its main campus is in the Hyde Park, Chicago, Hyde Park neighborhood on Chicago's South Side, Chic ...
in 1995. In 1999, he received his doctorate in law from the University of Munich with his thesis ''Staat als Argument'' under
Udo Di Fabio Udo Di Fabio (born 26 March 1954, in Duisburg) is a German jurist. He is a former judge of the Federal Constitutional Court of Germany, Germany's highest court, where he served as a member of the Second Senate from December 1999 until December 2 ...
and Peter Lerche. In 2002, he was an Emile Noël Fellow at the Jean Monnet Centre of
New York University New York University (NYU) is a private university, private research university in New York City, New York, United States. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded in 1832 by Albert Gallatin as a Nondenominational ...
. In 2004, he completed his
habilitation Habilitation is the highest university degree, or the procedure by which it is achieved, in Germany, France, Italy, Poland and some other European and non-English-speaking countries. The candidate fulfills a university's set criteria of excelle ...
at the
University of Heidelberg Heidelberg University, officially the Ruprecht Karl University of Heidelberg (; ), is a public university, public research university in Heidelberg, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. Founded in 1386 on instruction of Pope Urban VI, Heidelberg is List ...
with a thesis on the division of powers, qualifying him to teach public law, international law, European law, and philosophy of law. Between 2005 and 2009, he served as professor at the universities of
Münster Münster (; ) is an independent city#Germany, independent city (''Kreisfreie Stadt'') in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is in the northern part of the state and is considered to be the cultural centre of the Westphalia region. It is also a ...
and
Göttingen Göttingen (, ; ; ) is a college town, university city in Lower Saxony, central Germany, the Capital (political), capital of Göttingen (district), the eponymous district. The River Leine runs through it. According to the 2022 German census, t ...
. Möllers was also a Fellow of the
Berlin Institute for Advanced Study The Institute for Advanced Study in Berlin () is an interdisciplinary institute founded in 1981 in Grunewald, Berlin, Germany, dedicated to research projects in the natural and social sciences. It is modeled after the original IAS in Princeto ...
in 2006 and 2007. In 2009, Möllers assumed the Chair of Public Law, in particular Constitutional Law and Philosophy of Law at
Humboldt University of Berlin The Humboldt University of Berlin (, abbreviated HU Berlin) is a public research university in the central borough of Mitte in Berlin, Germany. The university was established by Frederick William III on the initiative of Wilhelm von Humbol ...
, where he succeeded
Bernhard Schlink Bernhard Schlink (; born 6 July 1944) is a German lawyer, academic, and novelist. He is best known for his novel '' The Reader'', which was first published in 1995 and became an international bestseller. He won the 2014 Park Kyong-ni Prize. Ea ...
. Möllers has been co-editor of the journal '' Der Staat'' since 2006. He regularly publishes essays in ''Merkur''. Since 2020, Möllers has been a Senior Advisor to the Hamburg think tank ''The New Institute'' founded by Erck Rickmers.


Work

In May 2007, Möllers presented a study on behalf of the
Federation of German Industries The Federation of German Industries ( (BDI)) is the umbrella organization of German industry and industry-related service providers in the legal form of a registered association. It represents 39 industry associations and more than 100,000 compan ...
that criticised the proposed model for the
privatisation Privatization (rendered privatisation in British English) can mean several different things, most commonly referring to moving something from the public sector into the private sector. It is also sometimes used as a synonym for deregulation w ...
of
Deutsche Bahn (, ; abbreviated as DB or DB AG ) is the national railway company of Germany, and a state-owned enterprise under the control of the German government. Headquartered in the Bahntower in Berlin, it is a joint-stock company ( AG). DB was fou ...
as untenable in terms of constitutional and accounting law. Möllers was an authorised representative of the
German government The Federal Government (, ; abbr. BReg) is the chief executive body of the Federal Republic of Germany and exercises executive power at the federal level. It consists of the Federal Chancellor and the Federal Ministers. The fundamentals o ...
in the data retention proceedings before the
Federal Constitutional Court The Federal Constitutional Court ( ; abbreviated: ) is the supreme constitutional court for the Federal Republic of Germany, established by the constitution or Basic Law () of Germany. Since its inception with the beginning of the post-W ...
. He also represented the German government in the proceedings against the Act on the Federal Criminal Police Office and, together with Christian Waldhoff, represented the
German Bundesrat The German Bundesrat (, ) is a legislative body that represents the sixteen '' Länder'' (federated states) of Germany at the federal level (German: ''Bundesebene''). The Bundesrat meets at the former Prussian House of Lords in Berlin. Its se ...
in the NPD ban proceedings. In 2021, his book ''Freiheitsgrade. Elemente einer liberalen politischen Mechanik'' was nominated for the Leipzig Book Fair Prize (category: non-fiction/essays).


Awards

* 2016: Leibniz Prize * 2019: Schader Award * 2021: Tractatus Award for ''Freiheitsgrade. Elemente einer liberalen politischen Mechanik''


Memberships

* Since 2007: Full member of the Social Science Class of the
Berlin-Brandenburg Academy of Sciences and Humanities The Berlin-Brandenburg Academy of Sciences and Humanities (), abbreviated BBAW, is the official academic society for the natural sciences and humanities for the German states of Berlin and Brandenburg. Housed in three locations in and around Ber ...
* Member of the Association for Constitutional History


References

{{Reflist Living people 1969 births Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich alumni Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz Prize winners Social Democratic Party of Germany politicians Academic staff of the University of Münster Academic staff of the University of Göttingen Academic staff of the Humboldt University of Berlin