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Armin Grein in April 2019

Photo: Daniel Karmann / picture alliance / dpa

The co-founder and long-time federal chairman of the Free Voters, Armin Grein, died on Sunday at the age of 84. This was announced by the Bavarian state party association. Grein was state chairman of the Free Voters in Bavaria from 1978 to 2006, and from 1994 to 2010 he also held the office of federal chairman.

»The death of Armin Grein hits us deeply. He laid the roots of the Free Voters,” said acting state and federal leader Hubert Aiwanger. It is only because of Grein's preparatory work that the Free Voters are now where they are. Grein did a lot for the people in the country and always focused on the local people, took time and listened.

Order for political commitment

According to information, Grein's political path began in 1972 in Marktheidenfeld (Main-Spessart district), where he was full-time mayor until 1984. In 1978 he founded the regional association of Free Voters in Bavaria. In addition to district and district council mandates, one of his greatest successes was being elected district administrator in the Main-Spessart district in 1984.

Grein was considered a convinced local politician who always emphasized how important local politics was for the functioning of the community. This belief is still firmly anchored among the Free Voters today. Before founding the party, Grein had to exert a lot of patience and persuasion over many years to convince the independent groups in Bavaria and Germany that they could achieve more as a unified political force.

Armin Grein was born on April 21, 1939 in Aschaffenburg and grew up in Faulbach am Main in the Miltenberg district. He lived with his wife in Marktheidenfeld until his death. He leaves behind three children – a son and two daughters. For his social and political commitment he was awarded, among other things, the Bavarian Order of Merit, the Municipal Medal of Merit in gold and the Bavarian Constitutional Medal in silver.

The Free Voters had recently announced ambitions beyond the Bavarian borders. Party leader Aiwanger has long been talking about entering the Bundestag after the next scheduled election in 2025. The goal is to achieve a majority for a “bourgeois coalition” made up of the Union, FDP and Free Voters. The Free Voters are currently only represented in a state government in Bavaria.

col/dpa