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Germany’s former president Horst Koehler, who served as head of state from 2004 to 2010 and was a strong backer of Africa, died on Saturday aged 81 after a brief illness.
“With the death of Horst Koehler, we have lost a highly esteemed and extremely popular person who achieved great things –- for our country and in the world,” President Frank-Walter Steinmeier said in a letter to Koehler’s widow.
In a post on X, Chancellor Olaf Scholz hailed Koehler as a “committed politician who worked throughout his life for a fairer world”.
He passed away in Berlin in the early hours, surrounded by his family.
Koehler, an economist by training, was the first German president who was not a career politician.
