Bavarian deputy minister-president Hubert Aiwanger found dead in Berlin hotel, causes unknown

Report and official confirmation

Bild reported on the evening of 4 November that Hubert Aiwanger, Bavaria's economy minister and deputy minister-president, had been found dead in a hotel in Berlin. The paper cited sources in the Bavarian state government and in the Berlin police. Government circles then confirmed his death to the Deutsche Presse-Agentur, and police circles were also cited as confirming it. The reports describe him as 55 years old and as the chairman of the Free Voters (Freie Wähler), a party he has led in Bavaria since 2006. Early reports said the exact circumstances of the death were not yet known.

Circumstances and possible cause

No cause of death had been named in the reports, and the exact circumstances remained unclear. Tagesspiegel reported, based on its own information, that there were so far no indications of outside responsibility and that health reasons were believed to be the cause. No official body was quoted naming a cause in the coverage. Die Welt, citing the Nius outlet, reported that Aiwanger had not attended a Free Voters event on the afternoon of 4 November, where he was due to appear. According to the same report, his party cited health reasons for his absence.

Political career

Aiwanger was born on 26 January 1971 in Ergoldsbach in Lower Bavaria. He grew up on a farm and studied agriculture at the FH Weihenstephan. He became head of the Free Voters in Bavaria in 2006 and took over the federal chairmanship in 2010. He first entered the Bavarian state parliament in 2008 and led the Free Voters group there until 2018. After the 2018 state election he became state minister for economy, regional development and energy and deputy minister-president in the cabinet of Markus Söder (CSU). He was regarded as a sharp critic of EU decisions, and in the 2023 state election he won the Landshut constituency directly for the first time.

Family and open questions

The reports say Aiwanger leaves a partner, with whom he has two sons. The exact circumstances of his death, and the cause, had not been established in the reports. His death leaves the Free Voters without the chairman who had led the party's federal organisation since 2010. The reports said further details had not yet been released.