State ceremony held for deceased former German president Horst Köhler
Germany's political elite are scheduled to bid farewell to former president Horst Köhler with a funeral service and a state ceremony at Berlin Cathedral on Tuesday.
Köhler passed away in early February at the age of 81. He was chosen in 2004 to become the country's ninth president, succeeding Johannes Rau.
Köhler was re-elected for a second term in 2009. His resignation with immediate effect just a year later was unprecedented in the history of the federal republic.
Köhler was the first president who was not a party politician but came from a business background. Initially largely unknown to the wider public, he swiftly earned recognition and sympathy.
During the state ceremony, incumbent President Frank-Walter Steinmeier, Austrian former president Heinz Fischer and former German finance minister Theo Waigel will speak.
Under Waigel, Köhler served as state secretary in the Ministry of Finance, where he was the German chief negotiator for the Maastricht Treaty on European Economic and Monetary Union.
Steinmeier had praised Köhler after his death as "a stroke of luck" for Germany. He particularly highlighted Köhler's advocacy for fair and equal treatment of the African continent, adding that he was far ahead of his time in this regard.
