Bavaria’s Interior Minister Joachim Herrmann has been operated on after suffering from biliary colic. The operation took place on Wednesday morning – and according to information from the German Press Agency, it went well. The 67-year-old CSU politician will have to stay in hospital for a few more days to recover. A spokesman for the Interior Ministry confirmed when asked by the Nuremberg Newsthat Herrmann had to undergo “a short-term medical procedure.” No further details are known.
Herrmann attended his party’s retreat at the Banz monastery in Upper Franconia on Monday. Later, the pains typical of gallstones forced him to leave. His absence raised questions among the MPs. On Tuesday, Herrmann then visited a doctor, who sent him to the hospital.
Operations after biliary colic are considered routine. Doctors remove the gallbladder and gallstones so that no new stones can form. The operations are usually minimally invasive; patients can usually leave the clinic within a week and return to work after two weeks. Herrmann is known, however, for not having to worry about operations or illnesses for long. He usually continues to work from his bed.
Herrmann has headed the Bavarian Ministry of the Interior since October 2007, making him the longest-serving minister of the interior in the Federal Republic. He has been a member of the state parliament since 1994 and has been considered for political office in Berlin as part of the CSU. Herrmann will probably have to celebrate his 68th birthday in a few days (September 21) in the hospital.