The staff of the C3L - Center for Lifelong Learning mourn the loss of Prof. Dr Hans-Dietrich Raapke, who passed away on 10 February at the age of 87.

We have lost a long-time academic teacher, colleague and promoter of adult education and advanced scientific training. Together with Willy Strzelewicz and Wolfgang Schulenberg, Hans-Dietrich Raapke laid the foundations for empirical adult education research and university-based adult education, which is now a natural part of the remit of universities. His ideas and suggestions, his conceptions of (continuing) education, his appreciation of science and his commitment were and are groundbreaking for us.