Key Points:

  • Hubert Aiwanger, 55, Bavaria’s deputy premier and economy minister, was found dead in his Berlin hotel room on Wednesday evening, 4 November 2026.
  • He had travelled to Berlin for the opening of his Free Voters party’s new office but missed the event after feeling unwell.
  • Berlin police and prosecutors have opened an investigation to establish the cause of death and rule out third-party involvement; no cause has been announced.
  • Bavarian Premier Markus Soder called the death a “terrible tragedy” and said the state government was deeply shocked.
  • Aiwanger had led the Free Voters since 2010 and served as deputy premier and economy minister since November 2018.

Hubert Aiwanger, Bavaria’s deputy premier and economy minister, was found dead in his Berlin hotel room on Wednesday evening, 4 November 2026, aged 55, with police opening an inquiry into the cause.

What happened: Aiwanger found dead in Berlin hotel

Hubert Aiwanger, the deputy premier of the German state of Bavaria, was found dead in his hotel room in Berlin on Wednesday evening, 4 November 2026. He was 55. The Bavarian state government confirmed the sudden death, and Berlin police said he was “found dead in his hotel room” in the Berlin-Mitte district.

Aiwanger had travelled to the German capital for the opening of his Free Voters party’s new office. According to the Bild newspaper, he missed the occasion after feeling unwell and stayed at his hotel, the Neuer Fritz on Friedrichstrasse in central Berlin. He was later found dead in his room when he could not be contacted.

Berlin police and prosecutors have opened an investigation into the death. In a joint statement, they said the aim of the inquiry was “to establish the specific cause of death and the circumstances surrounding it, and to rule out any possible third-party culpability”. No cause of death has been announced, and German media reported that police had found no indication of foul play. There was no immediate further comment from Berlin police or prosecutors.

Bavarian Premier Markus Soder confirmed the news in a statement published on the state government website. “The sudden death of Hubert Aiwanger is a terrible tragedy. We are all deeply shocked,” he said. Soder also described the death as an “absolute tragedy” and offered his condolences to Aiwanger’s family.

Why it matters

Aiwanger was one of Bavaria’s most prominent politicians and a central figure in the state’s government for eight years. He became deputy premier and economy minister in November 2018, when his Free Voters party joined a governing coalition with the Christian Social Union (CSU) under Soder, and he kept both posts after the 2023 state election. He had led the Free Voters in Bavaria since 2006 and taken over the party’s national leadership in 2010.

His sudden death leaves two of Bavaria’s most senior posts vacant at once — the deputy premiership and the economy ministry — and his party facing a leadership transition with no successor in place. The Free Voters are the junior partners in Bavaria’s coalition government, so the loss also unsettles the balance of the state administration that Soder leads.

Aiwanger’s career had not been without controversy. In 2023 he faced national scrutiny after the Suddeutsche Zeitung newspaper reported allegations that he had written an antisemitic pamphlet while at school in the late 1980s. He remained in office through that episode, and his party stayed in the coalition.

Born on 26 January 1971 in Ergoldsbach, Lower Bavaria, Aiwanger studied agricultural sciences at Weihenstephan University of Applied Sciences before entering politics. He was first elected to the Bavarian State Parliament in October 2008 and became leader of the Free Voters’ parliamentary group there.

What happens next

Investigators in Berlin will now work to establish the cause of death and the circumstances around it, and to rule out any third-party involvement. No timetable has been given for the inquiry, and no cause of death has been announced.

In Munich, the Bavarian government must decide who takes over the deputy premiership and the economy ministry, and the Free Voters must begin the process of choosing a new leader. As with other sudden vacancies, an interim appointment is the likely first step while those decisions are made. No funeral arrangements have been announced.

For now, Bavaria has lost one of its longest-serving ministers without warning, and the questions — how he died, and who succeeds him — are still unanswered.

Sources: Reuters (original report, 4 November 2026) and AFP (independent report, 5 November 2026), with corroboration from Bild, dpa and Tagesspiegel. Facts verified against the original report and one independent source. Image is AI-recreated, not the original photograph.