BERLIN.- Hubert Aiwanger, the deputy premier of the German state of Bavaria, economy minister and leader of the Free Voters party, was found dead in a Berlin hotel room on Wednesday evening, November 4, 2026, at the age of 55. Bavarian state premier Markus Söder confirmed the death, calling it a terrible tragedy, according to Reuters.
"The sudden death of Hubert Aiwanger is a terrible tragedy. We are all deeply shocked," Söder said, according to Reuters. In a further statement carried by AFP, Söder described the death as an "absolute tragedy" and said: "Our thoughts are now first and foremost with his family and his children."
Found in his room after missing a party event
Aiwanger had travelled to Berlin for the opening of his party's new office in the German capital, but missed the occasion after feeling unwell, the daily Bild reported, according to Reuters and AFP. His body was later found in his room at the Hotel Neuer Fritz on Friedrichstrasse in the Berlin-Mitte district, Bild reported, according to Deutsche Welle. 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.
Berlin police and prosecutors said in a statement that Aiwanger was "found dead in his hotel room" in Berlin-Mitte and that they had opened an investigation, AFP reported. The stated aim of the inquiry is to "determine the specific cause and circumstances of death and to rule out any possible involvement of third parties," according to that statement. No official cause of death has been established.
German media citing police sources have reported that there is no indication of outside involvement and that health reasons appeared to be the cause, according to the Tagesspiegel account carried by TRT World. That is a press report based on police circles, not an official determination: the authorities have said only that the cause and circumstances are under investigation.
Who Aiwanger was
Aiwanger was born on January 26, 1971, in Ergoldsbach in Lower Bavaria, and grew up in the Landshut district. He was elected to the Bavarian State Parliament in 2008 with the Free Voters (Freie Wähler) and became the party's parliamentary group leader. He had headed the party's Bavarian branch since 2006 and took over its federal leadership in 2010.
After the 2018 state election, the Free Voters entered the Bavarian state government for the first time, as the junior coalition partner of Söder's Christian Social Union (CSU). Aiwanger became Bavarian minister of economic affairs, regional development and energy and deputy minister-president on November 12, 2018, posts he still held at his death. He had two children and lived with his partner, according to German media reports cited by AFP.
Aiwanger had faced national controversy in 2023 after it emerged that Nazi pamphlets were found in his schoolbag when he was a teenager in the late 1980s. He apologised over the affair but refused to step down, AFP recalled.
What is still to be confirmed
Three things remain open. First, the official cause of death, which only the Berlin police and prosecutors' investigation can establish. Second, the political succession in Munich: who takes over the economy ministry and the deputy premiership in the CSU–Free Voters coalition, and what happens to the party's leadership. Third, funeral arrangements, on which neither the family nor the Bavarian government has yet announced details. This article will be updated when the investigation or the Bavarian government confirms any of them.
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Sources: Reuters, November 4, 2026; AFP via Malay Mail, November 5, 2026; Deutsche Welle, November 5, 2026; Bild, Tagesspiegel, Augsburger Allgemeine and Süddeutsche Zeitung as cited above. Cover photo: Hubert Aiwanger in 2019 (Raimond Spekking, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons), with a small German flag added in the top-right corner.