Georg Streiter is dead: He invented the famous “We are Pope” line

Long-time deputy government spokesman Georg Streiter has died. The 68-year-old died on Wednesday night after a serious illness, as deputy government spokesman Wolfgang Büchner announced in Berlin. “We mourn the loss of a friendly and upright colleague who was valued by all,” said Büchner.

Streiter held the office of deputy government spokesman from September 2011 to March 2018 during the term of office of Chancellor Angela Merkel. Before that, he had worked for media such as the “Bonner Rundschau”, the “Hamburger Morgenpost”, “Max” and the star He later moved to the “Bild” newspaper, where he headed the politics section of “Bild” and “Bild am Sonntag”, among other things. He came up with the famous headline “We are Pope” after the German Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger was elected Pope Benedict XVI in 2005.

Georg Streiter had lost his wife and son

In addition to his professional career, Streiter struggled with several blows of fate. In 2005, his wife and the mother of his children died of cancer; the sons were just 10 and 13 years old at the time. One of the two sons committed suicide in 2022. It had been known for some time that Streiter was terminally ill with lung cancer. In an obituary by his old medium, it is stated that Streiter was a chain smoker for 55 years and, as he himself described it, “got his comeuppance.”

Streiter told SWR that he doesn’t believe in hiding his cancer or keeping quiet about the subject. He planned his own funeral and called the remaining time “bonus months”. “I meet people, enjoy life as much as possible, can eat what I want, and try to keep up with culture,” he said on the SWR1 Leute program. “Life is actually fun.”

Further source: “”, with DPA