Bavaria will bid farewell to Hubert Aiwanger on 14 November 2026 with a church service and a state memorial ceremony for Hubert Aiwanger. The funeral events for the late Economics Minister and Deputy Minister-President are scheduled to take place at Munich’s Frauenkirche . Aiwanger died in Berlin on 4 November, aged 55.
Proceedings will begin, according to the Archdiocese of Munich and Freising with a Catholic funeral Mass led by Cardinal Reinhard Marx . The state ceremony will follow in the same church. Minister-President Markus Söder and Landtag President Ilse Aigner are expected to speak, according to Bayerischer Rundfunk. Other tributes are planned, including one from Florian Streibl, leader of the Free Voters group in the Landtag.
For the musical programme at the service, the archdiocese announced excerpts from Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s Requiem. Bayerischer Rundfunk will broadcast the events. According to the broadcaster, around a third of the Frauenkirche’s approximately 1,100 seats will be available without reservations. The Free Voters organised buses to Munich; given the expected crowds, they could not guarantee participants a place in the cathedral.
With the state ceremony, the Free State is honouring a politician who held two key posts in the state government until his death. Aiwanger had headed the Economics Ministry since November 2018 and was also Söder’s deputy. He also led the Free Voters in Bavaria and nationally.
Under his leadership, the Free Voters entered the Bavarian State Parliament in 2008. After the 2018 state election, they joined the state government as the CSU’s junior partner. A political force that had presented itself as an alternative to the established parties thus became a permanent part of the governing coalition. At federal level, however, the Free Voters failed to enter the Bundestag.
Aiwanger’s political career was also marked by controversy. In 2023, he came under pressure over an antisemitic leaflet from his school days. He denied writing it; his brother later said that he had been the author. Söder stood by his deputy at the time.
Combining a church service with a state tribute gives the farewell a public setting. The two parts have different organisers: the archdiocese is responsible for the Requiem, while the Free State is responsible for the state ceremony. Holding both at the Frauenkirche brings together religious remembrance and recognition of a serving member of the state government. The public farewell does not replace the family’s personal grief. At the Prinz-Carl-Palais in Munich, a book of condolence was available from 6 to 9 November, and members of the public could also sign it.
Editor: Mira Cadena (Article created with AI assistance).