Aiwanger missed Berlin party opening before being found dead

The Bavarian deputy premier's death interrupts an election-focused broadcast, with detailed coverage beginning about 18 minutes in.

Channel: WELT Nachrichtensender ·

GermanyStory of November 5, 2026Trari Newsroom

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BERLIN: Hubert Aiwanger (Freie Wähler) ist tot! Bayerns Wirtschaftsminister in Hotel entdeckt I WELT

Things we can learn from the video

Press to jump

0:23The presenters announce that Hubert Aiwanger has been found dead in a Berlin hotel room.
3:38Julian Müller-Kaler interprets Democratic gains as a voter response to Trump's policies and economic conditions.
9:36A report examines implications for Germany, European trade, Ukraine support and tensions with Iran.
18:01The programme returns to Aiwanger's death and his role as leader of the Free Voters.
18:31Bild reporter Peter Tiede describes checking the news through Berlin CSU sources and informing party associates.

Hubert Aiwanger had been due to speak at the opening of his party's Berlin office. Instead, according to the German news agency dpa's account carried by Germany's WELT Nachrichtensender, the Bavarian economy minister and deputy premier withdrew because he was unwell, later became unreachable and was found dead in his hotel room. He was 55.

The report cites senior Bavarian government sources confirming his death, following an initial report by Bild. It does not give a cause of death.

Presenters Alexander Siemon and Fanny Fee Werther announce the news at the start of the November 4 edition of Die Welt am Abend. The programme then follows its scheduled coverage of the US midterm elections before returning to Aiwanger about 18 minutes into the upload. Viewers looking for the report promised by the title will find the extended discussion there.

Bild chief political reporter Peter Tiede joins the studio desk and describes checking the news through CSU contacts in Berlin and informing close party associates. Siemon recalls that Aiwanger had been in the studio only a week or two earlier.

Aiwanger led the Free Voters nationally and in Bavaria. He entered Bavaria's state parliament with the party in 2008 and became its parliamentary leader. When the Free Voters formed a coalition with the Christian Social Union in 2018, he became economy minister and deputy premier. The report describes substantial local-election successes under his leadership, alongside his unfulfilled ambition to take the party into Germany's federal parliament.

Much of the intervening broadcast concerns Democratic congressional gains in the United States. Political scientist Julian Müller-Kaler interprets the results as a rejection of Donald Trump's policies, while a separate segment considers consequences for Germany, European trade and support for Ukraine. The programme then returns from Washington's political reckoning to the loss of a leading figure in Bavaria's government.

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