Bundestag Vice President Thomas Oppermann (66) is dead. He collapsed while working on TV with ZDF.
Party colleagues of the SPD are shocked.
SPD politician Thomas Oppermann is dead.
According to media reports, the Bundestag Vice President died after a collapse.
He was 66 years old.
Update October 28th, 12 noon:
Today the Bundestag
commemorated the
Bundestag Vice-President Thomas Oppermann
,
who surprisingly died on Sunday,
with a
memorial service
.
In addition to numerous members of the
Bundestag
, the former Chancellor
Gerhard Schröder
and Oppermann's wife and three of the four children were also present.
During the half-hour memorial service,
Bundestag President Wolfgang Schäuble (CDU)
and
SPD parliamentary group leader Rolf Mützenich held
commemorative speeches.
Schäuble
emphasized in his speech that the great sympathy after the
death of Oppermann
showed "the high esteem" that Oppermann enjoyed across party and faction boundaries.
He described him as "clear and loyal in his social-democratic attitude, but never ideologically."
Schäuble honored
Oppermann
in his speech as “quick-witted in political disputes” and “warm in interpersonal dealings”.
Funeral service in the Bundestag: Schäuble speaks of Oppermann's "fine humor" and "self-irony"
He had the “remarkable ability” to “have a balancing effect and build bridges between different views and interests”.
He emphasized his “fine humor” and a certain “self-irony” that set him apart.
Oppermann
was committed to ensuring that German society was more just and fair and that his "level-headed manner, his expertise, his collegiality" would be missing.
In conclusion, the
President of
the
Bundestag
emphasized
that
Oppermann
“
had
rendered
great services to parliamentarism and democracy in Germany and that the German Bundestag would keep him an honorable memory”.
In memory of Thomas Oppermann: "He will live on in our hearts and deeds"
The
SPD parliamentary group leader, Rolf Mützenich
, also held a
funeral speech
in which he honored
Oppermann
as a “respected social democrat, passionate member of parliament and an important personality”.
Oppermann was a "strategist, designer, bundle of energy and fine fellow" who did a lot for Germany and democracy.
In his speech,
Mützenich
highlighted
Oppermann's
dealings
with the
AfD parliamentary
group.
He wanted to put an end to any obstruction "without preventing the chances of a democratically elected party".
This should continue to apply.
In his speech,
he described
Oppermann
personally as a “versatile and well-read person who never got bored” and who would have had “a strong sense of humor”.
With the words “We will keep him in very good memory.
He will live on in our hearts and deeds ”,
Mützenich
concluded
his
commemorative speech
.
Update from October 28, 9:56 a.m.:
Today, Wednesday, the Bundestag will
commemorate the
SPD politician Thomas Oppermann
,
who died on Sunday
.
Bundestag President
Wolfgang Schäuble
and the chairman of the SPD parliamentary group
Rolf Mützenich
will each give a
commemorative
speech.
There was no official information on the exact cause of death on Wednesday morning.
Update from October 27, 10:00 a.m
.: The Bundestag wants to
pay tribute
to its late Vice President
Thomas Oppermann
and say goodbye to him.
This
Wednesday, October 28,
2020, at 12 noon
, a
half-hour memorial service
will take place in the plenary hall.
Bundestag President
Wolfgang Schäuble
and the chairman of the SPD parliamentary group
Rolf Mützenich
will each give a
commemorative
speech, according to the press office of the German Bundestag.
Update of 26 October, 12.50 pm:
Even
President Frank-Walter Steinmeier
has the surprising deceased SPD politician Thomas Oppermann honored as "strong character fighter for democracy, the rule of law, progress and justice."
"We have lost a great person and a convinced democrat, a passionate parliamentarian," he wrote on Monday in a letter of condolence to
Oppermann's partner Petra Kirchhoff
.
In the letter, the Federal President recalled the long joint work, first in Lower Saxony and then in the Bundestag.
"He was my companion, advisor and good friend for many years." Even during their time together in Lower Saxony, he was impressed by Oppermann's creative will and his ability to hold out his own position even against resistance,
Steinmeier
continued.
Update from October 26, 12:05 p.m.:
The dismay over the surprising
death of the SPD Bundestag Vice President Thomas Oppermann
is great.
Party friends as well as political opponents were appalled on Monday - an SPD comrade spoke of a message in which "time stands still".
Oppermann suddenly died at the age of 66 - Merkel condoled
Update from October 26, 8:53 a.m.:
Chancellor Angela Merkel * was also dismayed by the death of Thomas Oppermann (66).
"For many years I have
valued
him as a reliable and fair social democratic partner in
large coalitions
," she said
on Monday,
according to
government spokesman Steffen Seibert
.
As Vice-President of the Bundestag, Oppermann “rendered outstanding services to our Parliament in turbulent times”.
Merkel expressed their condolences to Oppermann's family.
Also
CDU leader Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer
is concerned: "The news of the death Thomas Oppermann's shaken us and makes us sad.
We are now thinking above all of his wife and children, ”she said on Monday, according to a party spokesman at the beginning of a CDU presidium meeting in Berlin.
The CDU had dealt and discussed the matter with Oppermann in many rounds.
“Thomas Oppermann was always a staunch democrat and upright social democrat.
He will be missing. "
Sudden death of SPD politician Thomas Oppermann: ZDF is deeply dismayed
Update from October 26, 8.24 a.m
.: The ZDF was deeply dismayed by the sudden death of Bundestag Vice President Thomas Oppermann.
The 66-year-old SPD politician was
invited
as a conversation partner in the program
“Berlin direkt”
on Sunday evening
, the broadcaster announced on Monday.
Shortly before the planned
live switch
with Oppermann from the Max Planck Institute in Göttingen, the 66-year-old suddenly collapsed.
The first contribution of the show was already running.
The
ZDF employees
on site immediately
informed
the
ambulance service
that the politician was then taken to the university clinic in Göttingen.
However, the doctors could no longer save him.
The head of the ZDF capital studio in Berlin,
Theo Koll
, said the “Berlin direkt” team was deeply affected.
“In the preliminary discussion for the planned switch, we saw Thomas Oppermann, the always professional and relaxed politician.” Think of his family and friends.
Thomas Oppermann (66) is dead: Minister of Economic Affairs Altmaier is stunned
In addition to party colleagues from the SPD, leading politicians from the CDU * and CSU * are also shocked.
Oppermann's sudden death was a shock, wrote CSU boss
Markus Söder *
on Twitter on Monday.
“He was a great and committed democrat.”
Economics Minister Peter Altmaier
(CDU) is also stunned.
Oppermann and he were at the same time parliamentary directors of their parliamentary groups.
“The conflict between the government and the opposition turned into friendship: we have done a lot,” he wrote about the SPD politician.
"You were a great Democrat and a really good guy."
Dear Thomas #Oppermann, years ago we were both 1st PGFs of our groups.
The antagonism between Reg & Opp turned into friendship: this is how we moved things.
You were a great democrat and a really good guy.
Your death stunned us.
RIP
- Peter Altmaier (@peteraltmaier) October 26, 2020
The candidate for the CDU chairmanship,
Friedrich Merz *
, was also shocked.
Oppermann was a contentious and distinguished colleague from the Bundestag, he wrote.
Collapsed during ZDF work: Thomas Oppermann died - Vice Chancellor Scholz was shocked
Update from October 26, 7.52 a.m.:
SPD leader
Norbert Walter-Borjans
was deeply shaken by the death of Bundestag
Vice
President Thomas Oppermann (66).
"A big shock for all of us," wrote Walter-Borjans on
on Monday
.
Oppermann died suddenly and unexpectedly on Sunday.
Even
Vice Chancellor Olaf Scholz
spoke of a shock.
"Our country is losing an accomplished politician, the Bundestag an outstanding Vice President and the SPD a passionate and combative comrade," he wrote, adding: "We are all losing a friend - and we are sad."
The death of Thomas Oppermann is a shock for us all.
Our country is losing an accomplished politician, the Bundestag an outstanding Vice President and the SPD a passionate and combative comrade.
We all lose a friend - and we are sad.
- Olaf Scholz (@OlafScholz) October 26, 2020
SPD parliamentary group leader Rolf Mützenich
praised Oppermann as an extraordinary politician.
It was with great dismay that the parliamentary group learned of his death on Sunday evening, Mützenich told the
dpa
.
"His courageous and gripping manner made him an extraordinary politician who always acted with great responsibility." The thoughts of the entire parliamentary group are with Oppermann's family and friends.
The
ZDF
has now confirmed on Twitter that Oppermann had collapsed while working on TV with the station and was still hospitalized.
Bundestag Vice President Thomas #Oppermann has died.
The 66-year-old collapsed on Sunday evening while working on TV with ZDF and was hospitalized.
- ZDF today (@ZDFheute) October 26, 2020
SPD politician Thomas Oppermann is dead
First report from October 26th, 7.14 a.m.:
Berlin - Bundestag
Vice
President
Thomas Oppermann
is dead. As
n-tv
and
RTL
unanimously report, the 66-year-old died in the evening.
Accordingly, he
collapsed while
working on
TV with ZDF
.
He came to a hospital.
SPD politician Thomas Oppermann dead: He was Bundestag Vice President since 2017
He has been Vice
President of the Bundestag
since 2017
.
He had recently announced that he no longer wanted to be a member of the next Bundestag.
According to
RTL,
Oppermann leaves
his partner and a total of four children.
Labor Minister Hubertus Heil mourns SPD colleague Thomas Oppermann
In the meantime,
Hubertus Heil
, Federal Minister for Labor and Social Affairs, has confirmed Oppermann's death and is shocked: “The news of the sudden death of my colleague and comrade Thomas Oppermann fills me with deep sadness.
Thomas has rendered outstanding services to our country and social democracy with passion and understanding.
My thoughts are with his family, ”he writes on Twitter.
The news of the sudden death of my colleague and comrade Thomas Oppermann fills me with deep sadness.
Thomas has rendered outstanding services to our country and social democracy with passion and understanding.
My thoughts are with his family.
- Hubertus Heil (@hubertus_heil) October 26, 2020
Oppermann has sat in the Bundestag since 2005, from 2013 to 2017 he was parliamentary group leader of the
SPD *
.
The 66-year-old began his political career in 1980. Before he moved into the Bundestag, he was active in
state
politics
in Lower Saxony
, including as Minister of Science.
(came with dpa) * Merkur.de is part of the nationwide Ippen digital editorial network.
More information soon.
List of rubric lists: © Michael Kappeler / dpa / picture alliance