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Bundestag Vice President Thomas Oppermann dies, SPD politician passed away unexpectedly on Sunday at the age of 66.
According to information from ZDF, Oppermann was invited on Sunday as a guest for a live interview on the program “Berlin direkt” on the topic “Bundestag and Corona”. Shortly before the live interview, the politician collapsed and was hospitalized.
ZDF reports
While the first contribution was on “Berlin direkt”, Thomas Oppermann suddenly collapsed. ZDF colleagues at the scene immediately made the emergency call. Later, Thomas Oppermann was transferred to the University Hospital of Göttingen.
ZDF Capital Studio Berlin Director Theo Kroll: “The entire ‘Berlin direkt’ team is shocked and deeply affected. In the preliminary talk about the planned change, we saw the always professional and relaxed politician Thomas Oppermann. We are in memory of his family and friends. “
Federal Labor Minister Hubertus Heil (SPD) expressed his condolences on Twitter. “The news of the sudden death of my colleague and comrade Thomas Oppermann fills me with deep sadness,” he wrote.
▶ ︎ Thomas Oppermann has been vice-president of the German Bundestag since October 2017. Before that, he was chairman of the SPD parliamentary group for almost four years and, from November 2007 to December 2013, he was the first parliamentary director of the SPD parliamentary group . From March 1998 to March 2003, Oppermann was Lower Saxony’s Minister of Science and Culture.
Photo: Kay Nietfeld / dpa
“data-zoom-src =” https://bilder.bild.de/fotos/thomas-oppermann-war-auch-bei-der-opposition-belieben-201561410-73595528/Bild/8.bild.jpg “/> Thomas Oppermann was also popular with the opposition.Photo: Kay Nietfeld / dpa
▶ ︎ Since 2005 he has been a member of the Bundestag. In August 2020, the SPD politician announced that he would no longer run in the next federal elections.
“After 30 years as a member of the Lower Saxony state parliament and the German Bundestag, now is the right time to do something different and to undertake new projects,” he said at the time.
Oppermann leaves behind his partner, a daughter and a son and two daughters from his previous marriage.
SPD leader Norbert Walter-Borjans: “A great shock to all of us,” Walter-Borjans wrote on Twitter.
Vice Chancellor Olaf Scholz also spoke of shock. “Our country is losing an accomplished politician, the Bundestag a prominent vice president and the SPD a passionate and combative comrade,” he wrote, adding: “We are all losing a friend, and we are sad.”
The chairman of the SPD parliamentary group, Rolf Mützenich, said: “Thomas Oppermann worked in various capacities for the SPD and for our country. His courageous and practical manner made him an extraordinary politician who always acted with great responsibility. “
“A great democrat and a good guy”
In the morning, the Federal Minister of the Economy, Peter Altmaier, sent a very personal message via Twitter:
Chancellor Angela Merkel (CDU) was shocked:
Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer, head of the CDU, said at the beginning of the CDU presidium meeting in the morning: “The news of the death of Thomas Oppermann shocks and saddens us. We think first of his wife and children. We discussed the matter with Thomas Oppermann in many rounds. Thomas Oppermann was always a staunch Democrat and an upright Social Democrat. He will be lost. “
The CDU presidium remembered Oppermann in a minute of silence.
The vice chairman of the FDP parliamentary group, Alexander Graf Lambsdorff, wrote on Twitter: “He was a good person, a valued colleague and a staunch Democrat, whom we will miss very much.”
CSU chief Markus Söder wrote:
