BerlincTypeface:> German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier lauded his predecessor Horst Köhler as a dedicated public servant at a state memorial in the Berlin Cathedral on Tuesday.
Köhler died on February 1 at the age of 81. He was chosen in 2004 to become the country’s ninth president, succeeding Johannes Rau. Before that he was managing director of the International Monetary Fund in Washington.
Steinmeier praised Köhler as an “energetic and tireless servant of our community until the last days of his life.” “We Germans mourn the loss of Horst Köhler. We are grateful that he was among us and worked for us. We miss him,” Steinmeier added.
Germany’s top leaders were on hand for the state ceremony and a preceding church service, including Chancellor Olaf Scholz and the presidents of the Bundestag, Bundesrat and Federal Constitutional Court.
Former German presidents Christian Wulff and Joachim Gauck and former Chancellor Angela Merkel also came to Berlin Cathedral to pay their respects. Köhler’s casket was draped in Germany’s black, red and gold national flag. Austrian former president Heinz Fischer and former German finance minister Theo Waigel also spoke at Tuesday’s ceremony. (DPA)
