An obituary for Hans-Jürgen Bocker? A wake-up call!

Our friend, mentor, and role model is no longer with us. We were deeply saddened to hear that Prof. Dr. Hans-Jürgen Bocker passed away last Friday, October 23, 2020, at the age of 81. May his soul rest in peace and may his spirit continue to inspire us with the same power of love.

Shortly after Elementum was founded in 2007, Professor Dr. Bocker took over as Chairman of the Board of Directors of Elementum International AG, based in Switzerland. Together with the Pravica family, he built a family business that stood for genuine values. After retiring from professional life a few years ago for health reasons and moving to Germany, he continued to serve as Honorary President and wrote several articles on macroeconomic issues and the importance of physical precious metals for personal freedom.

When Hajo, as his friends called him, was born in Thuringia on July 13, 1939, he could not have known that just a few weeks later, World War II would break out. It was an outrageous attack by the collective on humanity and a tragic destruction of all cultural ideals that the Enlightenment had laboriously brought about.

It is all the more astonishing and hopeful that, despite these dark times, a free spirit was able to flourish, providing warmth and light like a lonely torch in the harsh night with his unwavering love, humor, and sharp wit. But not for himself, but primarily for his fellow human beings and nature.

Such selfless behavior has remained a rarity since time immemorial, but it shines like a perpetual glimmer of hope on the horizon that human beings are fundamentally good. In the seemingly eternal here and now, such things give us back our hope for a better world. Hajo is such a timeless gift.

After studying mechanical engineering in Darmstadt, he studied business administration at the Ludwig Maximilian University in Munich and received his doctorate from the University of South Africa in 1978. For many years, he traveled throughout Africa and around the world for renowned companies, personalities, and governments.

It was these experiences and adventures around the globe that made him the person we know, appreciate, and love. A good person, a philanthropist, and a do-gooder who loved nature as if he could stop its fleeting beauty. An ambassador of good and someone who provided urgently needed education so that humans, creatures of habit, could be freed from the cage of their thoughtlessness.

When he lectured at renowned universities in Germany, South Africa, Canada, and the US, it was the students, and thus the new generation of leaders, who benefited from his diverse experiences and lively stories from real life. Even if not everyone was able to interpret him and recognize his intentions behind his spoken or written words, he had the gift of being able to at least put a smile on their faces and encourage them to think for themselves.

His unmistakeable way of shaking people up and encouraging them to reflect was evidence of his boundless love for his fellow human beings and his reverence for the nature of collective existence.

Secretly, he probably knew that a different approach was needed to trigger something in people’s minds. And so he did it with humor, using exaggerated words and seemingly absurd examples, solely to fully awaken the senses of his audience – all cleverly packaged with his incredible genius, his wealth of experience, and his amiable charm. He was always modest and genuinely down-to-earth, because his life from the first minute to the last was anything but easy. May you now find peace, because your work is done – in all your perfection.

And so the sadness and deep shock at his passing are all the greater. For we will miss him, although it is comforting to know that he created something that is made to last forever. His essence touched us, and so he lives on in us.

He did his work conscientiously, and now it is our turn.