Ludwig Kalthoff, MD.
Co-Chair Climate Solutions Task Force (CSTF) · ESRAG Board Member 4 years · Past Chair ESRAG 2025 · Founder RC EcoPlanet D1900 · Past District Governor RID 1900
Ludwig Kalthoff studied medicine at the Ruhr-Universität Bochum and the Universität Gesamthochschule Essen, with a scholarship year at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, sponsored by the Rotary Foundation. He completed his specialist training in internal medicine and rheumatology at leading German rheumatology centers and received his doctorate from the Ruhr-Universität Bochum in 1988. He holds additional qualifications in acupuncture (B-Diploma, DÄGfA) and has served as a university lecturer in health economics at the Ruhr-Universität Bochum.
Over more than 30 years, Ludwig built and led rheumaticon®, a specialist outpatient practice for rheumatology, immunology, and osteology — the first rheumatological private practice at a German university hospital. He also established the first ambulatory cryotherapy chamber in Germany. A planned practice handover to his successor is scheduled for January 2027.
ROTARY & CLIMATE ENGAGEMENT
Ludwig has been an active member of Rotary since 2000, served as President of the Rotary Club Bochum, and was District Governor of Rotary District 1900 in 2024/25. In 2021, he founded the Rotary Club EcoPlanet D1900 — the first dedicated eco-club in Europe. He has been on the Board of ESRAG (Environmental Sustainability Rotary Action Group) since 2022 and currently serves as Co-Chair of the Climate Solutions Task Force (CSTF), operating under the identity KlimaDoc with a focus on Planetary Health — the intersection of climate change, biodiversity, and human health.
Ludwig is a graduate of Al Gore’s Climate Reality Leadership Corps and holds certificates from Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health (Health Effects of Climate Change) and Cambridge Judge Business School (Circular Economy and Sustainability Strategies). He is the initiator of The Green Carpet, a Rotary biodiversity media competition spanning Zones 15–18, launched in May 2026. He is also co-developing a Program of Scale, an international initiative to restore Europe’s semi-enclosed seas, in partnership with BASRAN, ESRAG, EndPlasticSoup, and UNEP. Ludwig is pursuing an honorary professorship (Honorarprofessur) at the Universität Witten/Herdecke, connecting his clinical expertise with his Planetary Health agenda.
TOPICS
Planetary Health · Climate & Biodiversity in Rotary · ESRAG/CSTF · The Green Carpet · Handprint · Program of Scale
PERSONAL
Outside his professional activities, Ludwig enjoys transcendental meditation, yoga, sailing, skiing, personal training and music. He lives in Bochum with his wife Eva (Rotarian, founding president of RC eC Compass Westfalia).They have two grown children and three grandchildren.