Tuesday, February 24
German state leaders will say their goodbyes to Rita Süssmuth today at a state mourning act service in St Hedwig’s Cathedral. The ecumenical service began at 10 am at the Catholic Cathedral in Bebelplatz.
Due to heightened security, the surrounding area is closed between 7 am and 2 pm. This includes the section of Unter den Linden in the direction of Alexanderplatz to Französische Straße, according to the traffic information centre.
At the age of 88, the CDU politician died at the beginning of February and was buried in her hometown of Neuss. Today is the official commemoration in Germany’s capital.
The Bundestag will host a memorial event at noon in the plenary chamber, where the heads of all five constitutional bodies will be. During a in the 90-minute memorial, Bundestag President Julia Klöckner and Chancellor Friedrich Merz (both CDU), as well as journalist Heribert Prantl, will pay tribute to the life and political work of Rita Süssmuth.
Süssmuth was a member of the Bundestag from 1987 to 2002 and its president from 1988 to 1998. As a professor of education and social sciences, she was a respected academic before her political career.
Chancellor Friedrich Merz stated that she was “a role model and a pioneer, not least for gender equality and the political influence of women.” Indeed, she played a key role in criminalising marital rape in 1997, something Merz himself voted against.
