Officials confirmed Germany’s former president, Horst Koehler, died Saturday at age 81 after falling ill. The presidency said that he died early Saturday in Berlin in his home surrounded by his family.
President Frank-Walter Steinmeier said, “With the death of Horst Koehler, a highly esteemed and extremely popular man who achieved great things-for our country and in the world-has been taken from us.
An economist by profession, Koehler is the first German president who has not come from a traditional political background. He was the head of the International Monetary Fund in Washington before he took on the largely ceremonial role of president in 2004.
His presidency began after he was nominated by then-opposition leader Angela Merkel, who later became chancellor. He was re-elected for a second term in 2009, but Koehler stepped down in May 2010 following criticism over comments he made about German military missions abroad.
