Bavarian Economy Minister Hubert Aiwanger Found Dead in Berlin Hotel

Hubert Aiwanger, a 55-year-old German politician, was found dead in a Berlin hotel room on Wednesday. He was deputy leader of Bavaria, Germany's southern state, its economy minister and head of the populist Free Voters party. Police said they had launched an investigation because the cause of death was not immediately clear.

The investigation

In a joint statement, police and prosecutors said he was found dead in his room at a hotel in Berlin's Mitte district. The inquest aims to establish the specific cause and circumstances of death and to rule out any possible third-party culpability. Authorities gave no further details.

The daily Bild reported that Aiwanger had travelled to Berlin to attend the opening of an office for his party but missed the event because he felt unwell. Police later discovered his body in the hotel.

Reactions

Bavarian state premier Markus Soeder called the death an "absolute tragedy". He said everyone was deeply shocked and that thoughts were first and foremost with Aiwanger's family and children. Aiwanger's party was the junior partner in the Bavarian regional government led by Soeder's Christian Social Union (CSU).

Political career

Aiwanger had headed the Bavarian branch of the Free Voters since 2006. Under his leadership, the party entered the state government for the first time in 2018, but it never won enough seats to qualify for Germany's federal parliament.

In 2023 he faced national controversy after reports that, as a 17-year-old schoolboy, he wrote an antisemitic pamphlet describing Auschwitz as an "entertainment quarter". He denied writing it, though he admitted having had "one or a few copies" in his school bag. He apologised but refused to step down.

German media reported that Aiwanger had two children and lived with his partner.