Hubert Aiwanger, the leader of Germany’s Free Voters and Bavaria’s deputy premier and economics minister, was found dead in a Berlin hotel on Wednesday, November 4, aged 55. His death leaves the party’s leadership future uncertain and removes a senior figure from Bavaria’s governing coalition.

What is known about his death

Aiwanger had been due to speak at the opening of the Free Voters’ Berlin office, but cancelled for health reasons. He was later reported to be unreachable. The Augsburger Allgemeine, citing the Süddeutsche Zeitung, reported that the party’s federal executive asked hotel staff to open his room, where he was found dead.

The Berlin public prosecutor’s office opened an investigation to establish the cause and circumstances of his death and rule out possible third-party involvement. The cause has not been established. The Augsburger Allgemeine reported that media accounts described a natural cause as the current assumption, and cited the Tagesspiegel as saying there were no indications of outside involvement. Those reports are not an official determination.

A death at a political turning point

The office opening was more than a Berlin event for the party: it was intended to underline the Free Voters’ aim of playing a role in federal politics. Aiwanger, who had federal ambitions for the party, was supposed to address the gathering. His absence, first explained as a health-related cancellation, was followed by the discovery of his death.

Aiwanger had led the Free Voters in Bavaria since 2006 and at federal level since 2010. He entered the Bavarian parliament in 2008 and led the party’s parliamentary group until 2018. That year, the Free Voters formed a coalition with the Christian Social Union, or CSU, and Aiwanger became Bavaria’s economics minister and deputy premier.

His political career also included a major controversy in 2023, when an antisemitic leaflet found during his school years became a public issue. Aiwanger denied writing it. A few weeks later, the Free Voters won 15.8% in the Bavarian state election.

What happens next

The party’s leadership arrangements were unclear after Aiwanger’s death. He had been expected to seek confirmation as federal chairman within days, leaving the Free Voters without an immediate, publicly established successor in the material available so far.

Bavarian premier Markus Söder described Aiwanger’s sudden death as a tragedy and said his thoughts were with Aiwanger’s family and children. Aiwanger lived with Tanja Schweiger, a local politician in Regensburg, and they had two sons.