- The Socialist Party politician Hartung died: "Do well Thomas, it is much too early"...
On his website, the election campaign for September 1st in Thuringia is still visible: At that time, the SPD politician was running for his constituency in Weimar. "I urge you, go vote! And please, vote for a democratic party! Every vote for the far-right Höcke group will harm Thuringia's reputation, but also any practical politics. I promise you, I will dedicate myself fully to Weimar and Thuringia." This promise, Thomas Hartung cannot keep. At only 53 years old, he succumbed to cancer, as the SPD Thuringia announced on Tuesday.
Health, education, culture, and integration were the issues close to Thomas Hartung's heart. A surgeon by profession, he regularly served as an on-call doctor. On his homepage, he described himself as a gardening enthusiast, bookworm, and cat lover: He lived with a total of six cats, was vegetarian, and donated ten to twelve percent of his income to organizations like NABU, Red Cross, or Amnesty International.
First in the New Forum, then PDS, then finally SPD...
Politically, he traveled a long road. At the time of the Wende, the Thuringian was active in the New Forum, which later merged into the Greens. He stayed there for two years. From 2000 to 2010, he was a member of the PDS, later the Left Party, before joining the SPD in 2010, for which he remained active until the end.
Since 2004, he has been a member of the Weimar city council. In 2009, he was elected to the Thuringian state parliament for the first time. In 2017, he was re-elected, this time for the SPD. Now, he was aiming for re-election in his Weimar constituency on September 1st.
"Shocked and sad" about Thomas Hartung's death
"I am shocked and unfathomably sad," says Georg Maier, chairman of the SPD Thuringia. "Thomas Hartung was a passionate politician with principles - a Social Democrat through and through. His loss is incredibly painful."
Thuringia's Minister President Bodo Ramelow (The Left) also expressed his shock at the loss: "Thomas Hartung was full of life, bravely fought the cancer, and took all the treatments upon himself with great strength."
Politicians from the Greens and CDU also expressed their condolences for Hartung's death. "I have Thomas Hartung in my mind, as we spoke about cancer and everything around it on the sidelines of the last plenary," says CDU politician Mike Mohring. "Despite everything, his optimism prevailed. That's what I remember." Mohring himself had to fight cancer five years ago.
Madeleine Henfling from the Greens writes on X, "Rest in peace, Thomas, that's too early..."
Despite his political affiliations changing from the New Forum to the SPD, Thomas Hartung remained a dedicated representative for his constituency in Weimar, as seen during his election campaign in 2017. His commitment to Weimar extended beyond politics, with his involvement in the city council since 2004.
Thuringia's political landscape will undoubtedly miss the passionate and principled politician Thomas Hartung, who served in various parties, including the SPD, before his untimely death due to cancer.
