Politics: Hubert Aiwanger found dead in Berlin hotel

In Berlin, party leader Aiwanger was supposed to take part in the opening of the new capital office of the Free Voters in the afternoon and give a speech. FW circles say that he canceled the appointment at short notice, even though he was already in Berlin. He was said to have been feeling unwell the day before. After the short-term cancellation, he could no longer be reached by phone. The federal executive board then asked those responsible at the hotel to open the room. Aiwanger was found lifeless there.

“The specific discovery situation cannot yet be revealed for tactical reasons,” said a spokesman for the public prosecutor’s office. Investigative work is underway in the hotel, such as the search for clues, and if necessary there is also an interview with witnesses. An autopsy will likely be ordered after the body has been removed.

The public prosecutor's office and the murder squad of the Berlin State Criminal Police Office have initiated a death investigation. “The aim of the death investigation is to find out the specific cause of death and how it happened and to rule out possible foul play,” it said in a statement.

Shocked reactions from politicians

Bavarian Prime Minister Markus Söder (CSU) wrote on Platform X on Wednesday evening that Aiwanger's sudden death was an "absolute tragedy." The news “deeply shocked” him, said Söder. The thoughts are now “first with his family and his children. We mourn with them and pray for them.”

Ilse Aigner (CSU), the President of the Bavarian State Parliament, spoke in an official statement of a “serious loss for the Bavarian State Parliament and for politics in Bavaria”. There is consternation and bewilderment. “Our thoughts go out to his grieving family. Our heartfelt condolences go out to them,” said Aigner.

Hubert Aiwanger was born on January 26, 1971 in Ergoldsbach, Lower Bavaria, and grew up on his parents' farm in Inkofen-Rahstorf. As a farmer, he was a newcomer to politics: in 2001 he joined the non-party voters' group, and in 2006 he was surprisingly elected state chairman at the delegate meeting of the Free Voters. In the state elections in September 2008, the Free Voters under his leadership managed to get into the Maximilianeum with 10.2 percent of the vote. With 21 seats, the FW immediately became the third strongest force in the state parliament.

In the following years, Aiwanger distinguished himself as a sharp-tongued leader of the opposition and was one of the dominant figures in Bavarian politics. His great successes included the fight against tuition fees and the return to the nine-level grammar school. Since 2018, Aiwanger has been a member of the coalition government with the CSU as Economics Minister. In 2023 he made national headlines because of the affair surrounding an anti-Semitic leaflet from his school days. The coalition then plunged into a serious crisis, but Aiwanger named his brother as the author of the pamphlet and remained in office.

Aiwanger was in a relationship with Regensburg district administrator Tanja Schweiger, who also belongs to the Free Voters. The two have two sons together.