Reactions to Aiwanger's death: Söder speaks of "absolute tragedy"

We are all deeply shocked": Bavaria's Prime Minister Markus Söder and CSU leader reacted with dismay and shock to the sudden death of Hubert Aiwanger. He wrote on X about an "absolute tragedy".

Aiwanger was torn from the middle of his life, wrote State Parliament President Ilse Aigner on X. "A great loss for Bavaria." The leader of the Green Party in the state parliament, Katharina Schulze, also expressed her concern in an initial reaction to X: "My deepest sympathy goes out to his family, his relatives and everyone who was close to him."

“Bayern will be different without him”

The Free Voters of Bavaria emphasized that Aiwanger had made a significant contribution to turning a political force with local roots into a permanent fixture in Bavarian state politics. “We Free Voters in Bavaria will continue to live up to his conviction for a fact-oriented policy that only serves the people and will stand closely together to achieve this,” said deputy state chairman Armin Kroder. Party leader Florian Streibl said: “Bavaria will be different without him.”

A “controversial politician”

But the consternation is not only great in Bavarian state politics, where Aiwanger served as party leader of the Free Voters, deputy prime minister and economics minister.

North Rhine-Westphalia's Prime Minister Hendrik Wüst (CDU) praised Aiwanger as a "controversial politician for whom his Bavarian homeland was always the focus." Baden-Württemberg's Prime Minister Cem Özdemir (Greens) described him as a "controversial politician with rough edges who fought for his convictions."

Coalition partner of the Söder-CSU since 2018

Aiwanger was indeed controversial. He was argumentative, but also controversial. He was a full-blooded politician and achieved nationwide fame - also with his special Lower Bavarian dialect.

In 2008, Aiwanger and his Free Voters entered the Bavarian state parliament for the first time and became their parliamentary group leader. Ten years later, in 2018, the CSU and Free Voters forged a coalition. Aiwanger became economics minister and deputy prime minister.

The late summer of 2023 was a turning point. A few weeks before the state elections in Bavaria, he was caught up in an anti-Semitic leaflet from days long past that had been found on him when he was at school. The government coalition with the CSU was on the verge of failure, Aiwanger was threatened with expulsion - and yet in the election a few weeks later he celebrated a new record result of 15.8 percent for the Free Voters.

Public prosecutor's office is investigating

The news of the 55-year-old's death came as a complete surprise on Wednesday evening. Aiwanger was found lifeless in a Berlin hotel room. According to information from the dpa news agency, he was represented at an important party meeting in the afternoon for health reasons and was no longer available later.

According to the public prosecutor's office, a death investigation was initiated in order to "find out the specific cause of death and how it happened and to rule out possible foul play."

Free voters need a new boss

The Free Voters, whose politically most important voice and figurehead was Aiwanger, now need a new state and federal chairman. Aiwanger was re-elected as state leader just a year ago - as federal chairman he actually wanted to be re-confirmed in office the weekend after next. “The Free Voters of Bavaria will continue their work in the spirit of Hubert Aiwanger,” the party announced that night. It is unclear whether the date for the federal party conference on November 14th will remain the same.