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IMAGO \/\u00a0Eibner<\/p>\nIMAGO \/\u00a0Eibner<\/p>\n
Tuesday, February 24<\/p>\n
German state leaders will say their goodbyes to Rita S\u00fcssmuth today at a state mourning act service in St Hedwig\u2019s Cathedral. The\u00a0ecumenical service\u00a0began at 10 am at the Catholic Cathedral in Bebelplatz.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Due to heightened security, the surrounding area\u00a0is closed between 7 am and 2 pm. This includes the section of Unter den Linden in the direction of Alexanderplatz to Franz\u00f6sische Stra\u00dfe, according to the traffic information centre.<\/p>\n
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\u2019s capital.<\/p>\n
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 Kl\u00f6ckner and Chancellor Friedrich Merz (both CDU), as well as journalist Heribert Prantl, will pay tribute to the life and political work of\u00a0Rita S\u00fcssmuth.\u00a0<\/p>\n
S\u00fcssmuth\u00a0was a member of the Bundestag from 1987 to 2002 and its president from 1988 to 1998. As a\u00a0professor of education and social sciences, she was a respected academic before her political career. <\/p>\n
Chancellor Friedrich Merz stated that she was \u201ca role model and a pioneer, not least for gender equality and the political influence of women.\u201d Indeed, she\u00a0played a key role in criminalising marital rape in 1997, something Merz himself voted against.
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