The Bavarian state parliament remembered the late Minister for Economic Affairs and Deputy Minister-President with a minute’s silence on 12 November 2026 Hubert Aiwanger State parliament president Ilse Aigner paid tribute to the long-serving chairman of the Free Voters as an influential politician. A photograph, a candle and flowers were placed in front of his empty seat on the government benches.
Aiwanger died on 4 November, aged 55. He was found lifeless in a Berlin hotel room. According to the public prosecutor’s office, an autopsy found no evidence that another person was involved in his death.
At the memorial, Aigner said Aiwanger had shaped the Free Voters into a political and social force. Although they had not always agreed, his forthrightness and commitment had earned her respect. On 6 November, the state parliament president had already signed a book of condolences at Munich’s Markus Söder along with the Minister-President Prinz-Carl-Palais and members of the state government. Members of the public were then also able to sign it.
The state government announced that a memorial service would be held at Munich’s Frauenkirche on 14 November. A pontifical requiem will be followed there by a state memorial ceremony. According to the Ministry of Economic Affairs, it will begin at 10.30 am.
Aiwanger had been a member of the Bavarian state parliament since 2008. He led the Free Voters’ parliamentary group until 2018. That year, the Free Voters became coalition partners of the CSU; Aiwanger took over the Ministry of Economic Affairs and became Deputy Minister-President. He had led his party’s Bavarian state association since 2006 and its federal association since 2010.
His political career was not without controversy. Before the 2023 state election, Aiwanger came under pressure over an antisemitic leaflet from his school days. He denied the allegation that he had written it. The Free Voters nevertheless gained ground in the election and remained part of the state government.
As parliament commemorated the deceased, his successor as an MP took his seat in the state parliament for the first time: Straubing restaurateur Stephan Weckmann took Aiwanger’s place. The appointment was based on the Free Voters’ list for the Lower Bavaria constituency in the 2023 state election. Weckmann had accepted the seat.
Filling the parliamentary seat is a separate matter from the government and party positions. As of 12 November, it was still unclear who would succeed Aiwanger as Minister for Economic Affairs, Deputy Minister-President, and chairman of the Free Voters’ state and federal associations. In the Ministry of Economic Affairs, State Secretary Tobias Gotthardt had initially taken over the minister’s duties. The outstanding decisions therefore concern both the leadership of a Bavarian ministry and the future head of a party that took on responsibility in the Bavarian government under Aiwanger.
Editor: Mira Cadena (Article created with AI assistance).