Former German President Horst Köhler has passed away at the age of 81 after a brief illness.
He died on Saturday morning in Berlin, surrounded by his family, according to an official statement from the German presidency.
Born on February 22, 1943, in Skierbieszów—then under Nazi occupation—Köhler’s family, of German descent, later moved to Leipzig in East Germany before fleeing to West Germany in 1953.
He spent his formative years in Ludwigsburg, Baden-Württemberg, and later pursued higher education at the University of Tübingen, earning a doctorate in economics in 1977.
Before assuming the presidency, Köhler held prominent international positions, most notably serving as the Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) from 2000 to 2004.
He was elected Germany’s president that same year and remained in office until 2010 when he resigned following backlash over his comments on Germany’s military engagements abroad.
