Todesfall: Bayern trauert um Hubert Aiwanger

In a moving state funeral, Bavaria bid farewell to Hubert Aiwanger, the long-serving Economic Minister and Deputy Prime Minister, in the Munich Frauenkirche. Over 1,100 mourners, many in traditional attire, honored him ten days after his sudden death, while hundreds more could not enter the church and watched the service on the church square.

In the Dom, beside a large portrait of the former Free Voters leader, Aiwanger's coffin was draped in Bavarian colors, white and blue. His life partner Tanja Schweiger, sons, and family were among the first-row guests. In addition to numerous guests from politics and society, regular citizens also attended the Frauenkirche service.

Minister-President Markus Söder, visibly moved, acknowledged Aiwanger's political career. "A tragic shock that cuts across party lines and social boundaries," he said, calling him a genuine Bavarian original, a political heavyweight, and a homegrown man. Aigner, the Landtag President, described Aiwanger as the driving force behind the Free Voters' success, remarking that without his relentless efforts, the party's rise would not have been possible.

She admired his frankness and discernment, lamenting that losing him leaves a huge void. Streibl, leader of the Free Voters' Landtag faction, described Aiwanger as a "loyal servant of the people," a "loyal servant of the people." He vowed that the party and faction would continue Aiwanger's political legacy in his spirit. The Pontifical Requiem was conducted by Cardinal Reinhard Marx, who stated that Aiwanger's death was felt like a shock across all party lines.

He too called Aiwanger a "truly Bavarian man" who still had much to achieve. The Münchner Dommusik choir, Domorchester, and soprano Katja Stuber orchestrated the service with Domkapellmeister Lucia Hilz. They performed excerpts from Mozart's Requiem in D minor. The funeral will take place later at Aiwanger's home in Lower Bavaria.