On Tuesday a state‑funeral ceremony for former Bundestag President Rita Süßmuth, a stalwart of the CDU who led the parliament from 1988 to 1998 and had served as federal family minister from 1985, will be held in the Bundestag’s plenary hall. President Frank‑Walter Steinmeier has ordered the solemn observance.
In addition to the constitutional officials, a wide array of leading German politicians is slated to attend. The ceremony will be hosted by the sitting parliamentary presidents who succeeded Süßmuth: Wolfgang Thierse (SPD), Norbert Lammert (CDU) and Bärbel Bas (SPD), together with Sabine Bergmann‑Pohl (CDU), former president of the only freely elected East German Volkskammer. All current federal ministers, except the housing minister Verena Hubertz (SPD) who is on maternity leave, have confirmed their presence.
Former cabinet members are also expected: Klara Geywitz (SPD), Hermann Gröhe (CDU), Annegret Kramp‑Karrenbauer (CDU), Otto Schily (SPD), Johanna Wanka (CDU) and Annette Schavan (CDU). Berlin’s governing mayor Kai Wegner (CDU) will come, as will the state premiers of Mecklenburg‑Vorpommern and Brandenburg, Manuela Schwesig (SPD) and Dietmar Woidke (SPD).
Nine state parliament presidents will be in attendance, including Bavarian parliament president Ilse Aigner (CSU). Representatives of the Apostolic Nuntius and nineteen foreign embassies are registered, along with the presidents of the Robert Koch Institute, the German Federal Institute for Drugs and Medical Devices, and the German‑Poland Institute.
The funeral service itself will commence at noon in the plenary hall, preceded by an ecumenical worship service at St. Hedwig’s Cathedral starting at 10 a.m. A speech for the deceased, requested by her family, will be delivered by author and journalist Heribert Prantl. Among the speakers slated to address the assembly are President Steinmeier, Bundestag President Julia Klöckner (CDU), Chancellor Friedrich Merz (CDU), as well as the presidents of the Bundesrat, Andreas Bovenschulte (SPD), and of the Federal Constitutional Court, Stephan Harbarth.
