Prominent German politician found dead in Berlin hotel room hours before speech

German police have launched an investigation after a senior politician was found dead in a hotel room in Berlin on Wednesday evening.

Authorities are probing whether a third party was involved in the death of Hubert Aiwanger, the deputy premier of the state of Bavaria and leader of a small conservative party.

Mr Aiwanger, 55, who served as the economy minister in Germany’s largest state, was due to give a speech at the opening of an office for his Free Voters party, but missed the occasion because he felt unwell, German outletBild reported.

"The aim of the inquest is to establish the specific cause of death and the circumstances surrounding it, and to rule out any possible third-party culpability," Berlin police and prosecutors said in a statement, giving no further details.

"The sudden death of Hubert Aiwanger is a terrible tragedy. We are all deeply shocked," Bavarian Premier Markus Soeder said in a statement published on the state government website.

“Our thoughts are first and foremost with his family and his children. We mourn with them and pray for them.”

A statement on the regional government’s website said it “mourns” the loss of the 55-year-old.

Bild reported that he was found in the Hotel Neuer Fritz in central Berlin. Police cars and several state government cars were parked outside the hotel that evening.

After he reported being unwell, staff members believed he might be suffering an infection, while members of the CSU parliamentary group said he had been experiencing gastrointesinal problems, the outlet reported.

The Berlin public prosecutor’s office told Bild that there is “no initial suspicion of a crime” but that “nothing can be ruled out”. The outlet reported that Mr Aiwanger’s body had no external injuries.

The Free Voters of Bavaria have been in a coalition with the conservative Christian Social Union in the state since 2018.

He had joined the party in 2002, and first became a member of the county council in Landshut in 2004.

Mr Aiwanger was elected federal chairman of the party in 2010, before the party sent its first MEP, Ulrike Mueller, to the European parliament in 2014.

He had two children with long-term partner Tanja Schweiger since 2014, a state administrative official.