Former German President Horst Koehler Dies in Berlin

Former German President Horst Koehler Dies in Berlin Darya Smorodskaya

On February 1, it became known that the ninth post-war President of Germany, Horst Koehler, died at the age of 81. During his career, he received fame and sympathy from citizens.

This was reported by 24 Channel with reference to Deutsche Welle. Horst Koehler headed Germany from 2004 to 2010.

Horst Koehler Dies of Illness in Germany

A statement from the office of German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier reported that former head of state Horst Koehler died surrounded by his family in Berlin. He fought the disease that took his life on the morning of February 1.

Köhler was 81 years old. He is remembered in Germany as a deep and thoughtful man. During his life, Horst Köhler achieved great success and did everything possible for the development of his country.

We have lost a highly respected and extremely popular man who achieved great success – for our country and the world, Steinmeier wrote in a letter of condolence.

In 2004, Horst Köhler was almost unknown to the general public, but thanks to his policies he was able to become one of the most recognized presidents of Germany.

Everything he said and did was usually preceded by long and deep reflection and discussion, the current German president added.

What is known about Horst Köhler

Horst Köhler was a successful financier and served as Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF). He sought to make the fund's work more transparent and adapted to the prevention of crisis phenomena. Koehler managed to organize cooperation between the IMF and the World Bank and initiated many reforms in the fund.

Later, he returned to politics and became the Federal President of Germany. During his term, he tried to solve the problems of employment, maintaining and creating new jobs, improving the education system and looked for new approaches to demographic changes in the country.

Kohler was also an associate of former German Chancellor Angela Merkel. At one time, she actively lobbied for him to run for president.

Although Horst Koehler was a popular official, he faced criticism after his controversial comments during a trip to Afghanistan. Because of this, Köhler resigned on May 31, 2010.

After his presidency, Horst Köhler continued to work on state affairs, holding positions in the areas of foreign affairs, development projects in Africa, and climate change.