Departures of note

Josef Duchač was a German Christian Democratic Union (CDU) politician who became the first Minister-President of the re-established Free State of Thuringia after German reunification, serving from December 1990 to February 1992. In that role he took responsibility for building the political and state structures of the newly re-founded state. He was remembered as a formative figure in Thuringian state history who helped consolidate Thuringia as an independent federal state. Duchač died on 23 October 2026 at the age of 88 after a long, serious illness.