German prosecutors investigate hotel death of Bavarian minister

Prosecutors in Germany have opened an investigation into the death of Hubert Aiwanger, Bavaria’s deputy prime minister, after his body was found in a Berlin hotel on Wednesday evening.

Authorities in the German capital “have launched a death investigation,” Berlin Police said in a statement. A spokesperson for the Berlin Public Prosecutor’s Office told Bild overnight that there is “currently no initial suspicion of a criminal offense. At this stage, nothing can be ruled out.”

Aiwanger, who was 55 when he died, had served as Bavaria’s deputy minister-president and economy minister since 2018, representing the Free Voters conservative party. He was due to speak at the opening of his party’s new Berlin office. He reportedly told colleagues he felt unwell during the day and stayed in his hotel room.

Aiwanger led the Free Voters party in Bavaria from 2006 and nationally from 2010. Under his leadership, the party, which grew out of local independent voter groups, entered government in Bavaria for the first time in 2018 as the junior partner to the conservative Christian Social Union.