Advertisement

Physician son of former German president killed at Berlin hospital

By Clyde Hughes

Nov. 20 (UPI) -- The son of former German President Richard Weizsacker died from stab wounds he received during an altercation at a Berlin hospital Tuesday night, authorities said.

Investigators said Dr. Fritz von Weizsacker, 59, was speaking at the Schlosspark-Klinik Hospital when he was attacked. Von Weizsacker, who specialized in internal medicine and gastroenterology, died at the scene.

Advertisement

The suspect, a 57-year-old German man, was immediately taken into custody. The officer was seriously injured in the exchange, but officials said his condition is not life-threatening.

Witnesses told police the suspect lunged at von Weizsacker from the front row of a lecture room at the hospital and cut him repeatedly.

Richard von Weizsacker served as Germany's president from 1984 and 1990 and was in power during the fall of the Berlin Wall and Germany's reunification. He is perhaps best known for a 1985 speech that marked the 40th anniversary of the end of World War II, in which he said Germany's past cannot be forgotten.

Fritz von Weizsacker was the youngest of the former president's four children. The knife attack was the latest in a series of high-profile assaults in Germany, including one in 2015 that nearly killed Cologne Mayor Henriette Reker.

Advertisement

Latest Headlines