No Foul Play in Death of Bavaria Deputy Premier Hubert Aiwanger, German Prosecutors Say

German authorities said on Thursday that no external causes were involved in the sudden death of Hubert Aiwanger, the deputy premier of Bavaria and leader of the Free Voters party, who was found dead in a Berlin hotel room on Wednesday.

The Berlin prosecutors’ office said forensic examinations would continue and did not name a cause of death. Aiwanger was 55. He was also Bavaria’s economy minister.

Aiwanger had been in Berlin for the opening of a party office in the German capital but had missed the event after he felt unwell, the Bild newspaper reported. When he could not be reached later, party staff asked hotel staff to open his room, the Augsburger Allgemeine reported, citing the Süddeutsche Zeitung. He was found dead in a room at the Hotel Neuer Fritz in Berlin’s Mitte district on Wednesday evening, the Berlin Spectator reported.

Police and prosecutors opened an investigation to establish the cause of death and the circumstances around it, and to rule out any involvement by a third party. On Thursday, prosecutors said the first autopsy findings gave no sign of third-party fault, while further forensic examinations were still pending.

Reactions in Bavaria

“The sudden death of Hubert Aiwanger is a terrible tragedy. We are all deeply shocked,” Bavarian Premier Markus Soeder said in a statement published on the state government’s website.

German media reported that a natural cause was the working assumption, with the Tagesspiegel reporting no signs of outside involvement. Those reports are not an official finding, and the cause of death has not been formally determined.

Aiwanger had led the Bavarian branch of the Free Voters since 2006 and had been reelected as its Bavarian chairman a year ago. He had planned to seek another term as federal chairman at a party convention on November 14. The Free Voters have governed Bavaria in a coalition with the conservative Christian Social Union since 2018.

What happens next in his offices

In the Bavarian Economics Ministry, State Secretary Tobias Gotthardt of the Free Voters will take over the day-to-day business, at least for now, the Berlin Spectator reported.

Aiwanger had led the Bavarian branch of the Free Voters since 2006. His death leaves the party without its leader as it prepares for a federal chairmanship vote it had scheduled for November 14.

Reporting based on coverage by Reuters and the Berlin Spectator.