Overview
- Winfried Kretschmann said his wife, Gerlinde, has beaten breast cancer and is considered healed after five years without a recurrence, a common medical marker for recovery.
- The Green politician is leaving the post of Baden‑Württemberg minister‑president after 15 years, with party colleague Cem Özdemir expected to be elected by the state parliament to succeed him.
- Doctors found Gerlinde Kretschmann’s tumor during a gynecological exam in early 2021, and she had surgery followed by six weeks of radiation without needing chemotherapy.
- Kretschmann cut back his 2021 state election campaigning to care for his wife after the diagnosis, linking the private health crisis to his public schedule.
- The couple made the illness public to discourage rumor and to encourage mammography screening, and they now plan local travel, Black Forest hikes, and renewed community work in their hometown of Laiz.