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Heide Simonis is dead. The long-time politician and former Prime Minister of Schleswig-Holstein died at the age of 80. Here she shows herself in 2015 at the Karl May Games in Bad Segeberg with one of her trademarks: she had a soft spot for hats.

Photo: S. Gabsch / Future Image / IMAGO

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Simonis was the first woman to head a state government in the history of the Federal Republic of Germany. The SPD paid tribute to her as an important advocate for social justice in Germany. Simonis was a role model and encourager for many in the SPD and in her state.

Photo: IMAGO

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Simonis at a performance in Norderstedt near Hamburg on February 10, 2005. The politician shaped politics in Schleswig-Holstein for decades, from 1993 to 2005 as the first female prime minister of a federal state, a pioneer for women in politics.

Photo: Andreas Rentz / Getty Images

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In the 1976 election campaign in Rendsburg alongside Willy Brandt, it was the first Bundestag election campaign of Heide Simonis.

Photo: Rolf Böhler

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In most cases, she was the only woman among men among her colleagues (from left: Klaus Wowereit, Berlin; Kurt Beck, Rhineland-Palatinate, Georg Milbradt, Saxony; Henning Scherf, Bremen). The Deputy Prime Minister of Schleswig-Holstein, Monika Heinold (Greens), has now declared: "She has encouraged many women to demand and take on leadership responsibility."

Photo: DAWN DESILETS / AP

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On 17 March 2005, Simonis failed under spectacular circumstances in the election of Prime Minister in Kiel. In the foreground her challenger and successor Peter-Harry Carstensen (CDU). The change of government from Red-Green to the CDU on the fjord was also considered the beginning of the end for Red-Green at the federal level.

Photo: Ulrich Perrey / dpa

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Because her dissenters refused to vote in four rounds, her re-election narrowly failed in the state parliament. At that time, she wanted to continue governing with a red-green minority government, supported by the South Schleswig Voters' Association (SSW). After the election of Carstensen, Simonis ended her political career.

Photo: Maurizio Gambarini / picture-alliance / dpa

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In her private life, Simonis was an avid collector. In January 2005 she showed her porcelain collection in her apartment in Kiel.

Photo: Heribert Proepper / AP

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After her political career, she took over the German presidency of Unicef until 2008 – and also danced in the RTL show Let's Dance.

Photo: Christian Jakubaszek/Getty Images

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In recent years, it has been quiet at Simonis. Here she can be seen in an interview with the dpa news agency in 2015. A year earlier, the then Prime Minister Torsten Albig made her an honorary citizen of Schleswig-Holstein.

Photo: Carsten Rehder / picture alliance / dpa

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