Möllemann is Dead

Jürgen W. Möllemann died today in an apparently suicidal parachute jump.

Möllemann, 57, was a once rising German politician whose flirtation with anti-Semitism, and campaign finance irregularities led to his fall from power in recent months. Today he fell, literally, to his death. The one-time paratrooper remained a parachuting enthusiast and frequently jumped out of airplanes as a campaign stunt. Today he joined several friends for what initially appeared to be a routine parachuting excursion and made his last jump. Witnesses say his equipment malfunctioned in what could only be explained as a deliberate act of self-sabotage -- he became separated from the main chute and the reserve chute did not open. He died in a free fall, landing into a cornfield.

The fatal jump occurred only minutes after the Bundestag lifted Möllemann's parliamentary immunity amidst an investigation over violations of campaign finance laws.

This bizarre ending is sadly fitting, I suppose, to Möllemann's entire bizarre story that I've covered on these pages and on a website dedicated to him -- moellemann.com.

Jürgen W. Möllemann is survived by his wife and three daughters.

Not much on this in the English language press yet, here's one item.

(Thanks to Ralf Goergens, Christophe Kotowski and Dan Glickman for sending me a head's up).

UPDATE: Bloomberg has a report;

The always industrious Freepers are also on the case with a dpa article "ARAB WORLD LOSES FRIEND WITH GERMAN POLITICIANS' DEATH". (Moellemann had been president of the German-Arab Friendship Society)

Posted by Stefan Sharkansky at June 05, 2003 07:19 AM