Thank you so much for sharing your fellings and memories. For me. Andreas was my lover and my favourite thinking partner. I loved his calmness, his collectedness, his sensibility, his love for pleasurable food. You might have recognized this as well - the way he could look at a piece of cake - just like a child looking at a whole brand new world... He shared science, I shared the arts; turns out there is not that much of a difference. He was just someone with whom you could exchange on something in this precise and concentrated way... and sometimes not. He was somone, who loved what he did; He was (in some sense) carefree but at the same time serious. He had that abilitiy to melt into music. He had the ability to work with numbers. What a wonderful person he was...

I hope, you, his friends and colleagues, are well. Please take care

Katrin Jakob

Friday, the 6th of March 2020. It was late in the evening, and you were still working, as always, until late. You came to my office to discuss how excited you were that you were finally going to Crete. You did not say a lot, but it was easy to understand your enthusiasm. You see, all these years that we know each other, more than 12, we developed the ability to discuss without saying a lot. A gesture, a look would talk on its own. One look would replace a thousand words. Despite your eagerness to prepare for the trip, you wanted to stay and help me to develop the curriculum of the new lecture we were planning. Not because there was actual time pressure but simply because you knew this would make me happy. Because you were the kind of person that the words help, and solidarity were vital aspects of your personality.
That was the last time I saw you, my friend. You left for a short trip, and you never came back. It is the last time we would share feelings, opinions, excitement, sorrow, and even the annoying, for most of the other members of our group, but familiar whistling.
For those you met with Andreas, whatever I write here is not a surprise. And I am confident that you all share the same feelings. Andreas was brilliant and competent, with a high degree of professionalism. A great scientist and lecturer and a passionate mentor for the students. He was dedicated, motivated, and he always wanted to make the difference not only for himself but also for the whole world. More importantly, Andreas was an exceptional character. Honest, trustful, kind, polite, giving is only a few of the words of his multi-talented personality. A unique human being.
I am honored that I was a friend, a colleague, and advisor of Andreas.
My deepest condolences to Andreas’ family and to Katrin.
Our common destiny towards death is inevitable, so the goal is to make the difference. Andreas succeeded. He will always stay alive in our hearts.

Andreas was an outstanding doctoral student and postdoctoral scientist. He joined us about 12 years ago. He worked very closely with Andreas Richter and all the DOAS group. He joined Mihalis' new group a few years ago and and was forging a career in modelling and continuing his work on observations. He was a very gifted and successful researcher, his contributions being internationally recognised. His university teaching was outstanding.
Much more importantly than all of of the above is that Andreas was a very pleasant and kind person, a great human being. As a mathematician he selected to work in environmental physics, earth observation and University teaching because he wanted to make a difference. He was very committed to improving our planet and helping people in particular his colleagues and his students. He was a well liked and loved member of IUP.
The news is indeed, as Mihalis wrote, a very sad day in our lives. I am proud to have known Andreas, who I consider to be one of nature's gentleman.
I send my heartfelt condolences to his family and friends.

There is so much to feel, yet so little to say. We lost a member of our family, here in Crete. Andreas was a knowledgeable, rigorous, excellent young scientist, with the patience needed to accomplish major findings. He was very studious and reliable in his work and everything he was doing. Yet first and foremost, the kindest person, I ever met. Andreas was inspiring confidence and serenity, showing friendship and humanity to the people around him. We had a lot of plans to continue and strengthen working together that had been developed over a glass of wine and chocolates… He wanted to visit us in Crete so much and was working on this plan for over a year. From the very first moment he arrived in Heraklion, he became part of the family and the laboratory, having very fast excellent relations with everybody here. Until the very last moment he was really careful not to hurt the people around him. An example of life, a ray of sunshine in a cloudy day. We miss and will miss him so much.

Mit tiefer Betroffenheit habe ich heute vom Tod unseres Kollegen Andreas Hilboll Kenntnis erhalten. Wir trauern mit seiner Familie um den Sohn und Lebenspartner. Wir werden Andreas Hilboll nicht vergessen.

It has been months and I couldn't find the courage to write. As if with writing I would accept your passing... Deep down I still believe that I will find you in the office when I go back. That things will be back to normal... That we will continue our discussions - so many discussions - that are left unfinished... That we will make plans for the future of the lab... That we will walk around the building during our breaks... That we will argue about something, just to force ourselves to think of more things to do together... That we will complain about what bothered us... But its not going to happen... I know it, I was there... I was there to greet you goodbye to your final residence... I was there to see with you the view from there... All that is left now is the memories. The memories of our everyday life in the group. The memories of you coming in the office in the morning with your breakfast in hand, greeting me with the kindest smile. The memories of our last trip together in Crete. Of our walk in the city center of Heraklion... Of the last class we taught together... Of the last bottle of wine we drank... We spent the past two and a half years together. Every day, until the end. Since the first day I joined the LAMOS group I was greeted with that kindness that everybody knew, and I came to know very well. Always helpful, you made my transition to the new group as easy as it could get. Eager to provide information, ease the process. And this attitude never changed. Not only towards me, but towards anyone that could use your help, be it for personal or scientific matters. You were always there. Your door was always open. Always with a smile and positive attitude... That is who Andreas was. A great person, a great colleague, a great friend... Always positive, always helpful. A wonderful human being... My deepest condolences to his family, Katrin, and all the many people h managed to touch during his life... He will be greatly missed...

This is such a huge loss. Andreas came for a visit to Crete and he stayed forever... We are all shocked and deeply saddened! He will always be present in our hearts. Our condolences and sympathy to his family and friends!

I didn't work very closely with Andreas, but once or twice a week we spoke for a few minutes and I always enjoyed it. I am still shocked and I am at a loss for words. Andreas was such a nice guy. It's all incomprehensible. A great loss for all of us.

Andreas was brilliant as he was kind, a truly beautiful quality. I have met few people like him, with so much to give, so warm and charming, so happy to help and teach. That will make you feel so welcome with your questions, never judged no matter how silly your problem was. His cheering and grounded attitude was calming and restored the faith in yourself and your interest in science, saving me from many crisis, inspiring me to keep going. He will be deeply missed. I will remember him with gratefulness and admiration, for his work, his kindness and all I learned from him.

I only met Andreas once, but I read his name many times, as in the last few years he became an integral part of the "FLEXPART model family". He contributed greatly to the exchange about the model, spotted and reported bugs and gave advice to others. This just underlines what is said above about his character: he was always helpful to others! He also had many ideas for future developments of the model, about which we communicated via e-mail, even at a time when he was already sick in Crete but still forward looking. When I heard about his death a few days later I was truly shocked, and I still am! This is a huge loss for the entire FLEXPART family, one that we will never be able to compensate for. But we will always remember Andreas. My heartfelt sympathy goes out to Andreas' family.

It was a great shock to hear the terrible news. Andreas, the unconventional guy with slippers and two different socks (like my son!). Some things you cannot believe. But simply accept. Andreas helped a lot with the technical issues concerning the TM5 model....always helpful, always knowledgable. Characteristic were his e-mails in my e-mail box... 10/12/2019: 16:24: Dear fellow TMers, I need to run TM5-mp with CMIP6 future emissions. From what I understood from the TM meeting this is already implemented for the CB05 mechanism (no KPP), at least for SSP370. However, I am unable to find the input data file......Does anyone of you have this file available and can provide it to me for download? Thank you so much! Cheers, Andreas And less then 30 minutes later: 10/12/2019: 17:01 Dear fellow TMers, I was able to find the data file on ECFS in the ssp370 package at ec:/nm6/EC-EARTH/ECEARTH3.2b/INPUT/ Sorry for the noise. Cheers, Andreas Kind, helpful, polite, ...we will enormously miss him. In name of the TM-community, I wish his colleagues family and friend all the best in these difficult times.

Andreas was my supervisor for the master thesis. From the first day I stepped into LAMOS, he transmitted me a huge enthusiasm about the thesis' project and overall the atmospheric modelling subject. He had that ability: to encourage you through his own excitement about any topic. I signed in in a big part because of his attitude. I wanted to learn from him, and so it was. I still cannot believe it. I am going to miss our talks, in front of my computer, late in the evening. While I was worried about a problem and you just smiled and told me "Oh no worries, we are going to solve that". I am going to miss our shared enthusiasm every time we did a step forward, your "Yes, of course!" and your "Why should you do that?!" every time I screwed up. And after every talk, I always felt that you had somehow come to my perspective, and pushed me from there to improve a little bit more, although it wasn't always pleasant for me. He is going to represent a starting point that is always going to be present during my career. With him, we lose not only a professional but a friend, a unique person and an unreplaceable part of the department. Nothing is going to be the same without your discussions with Nikos in the background, your funny way of avoiding the top of the doors when going through them, your blue eyes, and your weird keyboard.

A Saturday morning I am discussing with Mihalis and we are confident that Andreas will win one more battle in his life and then few hours later we are communicated the sad news ... since then my mind is blank ... Still ... many warm thoughts ... I feel privileged to have known and hung around with our gentle friend Andreas. We live harsh times - but we realize this, in the most cruel way, only when we lose someone we know, a family member, a colleague, a friend ... That was Andreas - rest in peace my friend - you will be remembered!

Even though I only experienced a loose scientific contact with Andreas during our EMeRGe activities, I remember well the very the rather emphatic and enthusiastic (but far too short) discussion we enjoyed during a scientific meeting in Bremen last year. What a bright and promising person we lost in Andreas who was still in the early years of his career. My honest condolences are with his family, friends and collaborators...

Despite we were not very close to Andreas, we will remember him as a great man and will miss his friendly smile. Andreas had a very calm and positive way of communicating with people. He was ready to help everytime we asked, and it was a pleasure to discuss working issues or simply chat with him. It is an enormous loss for everyone, and Andreas will continue living in our memories and hearts.

It took me long to gather courage to write here ... because this is yet another hard step to assume that Andreas is forever gone from our lives. I could write many words but words would never convey the hole that now exists in my life... Just some months ago we were talking about overfull plates (aka life) that do not allow us to appreciate our life achievements...and fulfillmentdreams and doing something meaningful in this world... Andreas did enjoy his work and he specially liked to teach students and see them grow (his own words). He was an amazing and smart researcher but above all an incredible person, very kind and serene, always giving me that sensation of calmness just by being near him. He was an essential support pillar during my PhD days! He always pushed me forward and helped me to overcome the challenges I faced those 4.5years. I would seat in that empty turning chair in his office, feeling the sun shining in my face and he would help me to get through yet another hard day... he was more than just a colleague! Without his friendship who knows how far I would have gone/come. I will miss him dearly ... My heartily condolences go to all his family and friends.