Politician
Free Voters founding father Grein has died
Armin Grein was considered a convinced local politician. photo
© Daniel Karmann/dpa
In the mid-1970s, Armin Grein had a vision. He wanted to unite the free voters in the country. In doing so, he laid the foundation for a success story. Now he’s dead.
The founding father and long-time honorary chairman of the Free Voters, Armin Grein, died yesterday at the age of 84. The Bavarian regional association announced this. Grein was state chairman of the Free Voters in Bavaria from 1978 to 2006, and from 1994 to 2010 he also held the office of federal chairman.
“The death of Armin Grein hits us deeply. It has the roots of Free voters,” said the incumbent state and federal leader Hubert Aiwanger. It is only thanks to Grein’s preparatory work that the free voters are now where they are. Grein has done a lot for the people in the country and has always focused on the local people, took time and listened.
His career
According to information, Grein’s political path began in 1972 in Marktheidenfeld (Main-Spessart district), where he was full-time mayor until 1984. In 1978 he founded the regional association of Free Voters in Bavaria. In addition to district and district council mandates, one of his greatest successes was being elected district administrator in the Main-Spessart district in 1984.
Grein was considered a convinced local politician who always emphasized how important local politics was for the functioning of the community. This belief is still firmly anchored among the Free Voters today. Until the founding of the Free Voters, Grein had to exert a lot of patience and persuasiveness over many years to convince the independent groups in Bavaria and Germany that they could achieve more as a unified political force.
Armin Grein was born on April 21, 1939 in Aschaffenburg and grew up in Faulbach am Main in the Miltenberg district. He lived with his wife in Marktheidenfeld until his death. He leaves behind three children – a son and two daughters. For his social and political commitment he was awarded, among other things, the Bavarian Order of Merit, the Municipal Medal of Merit in gold and the Bavarian Constitutional Medal in silver.