Overview
- Kartmann died on Saturday, May 23, 2026, in a hospital in Lich at age 77 after a period of serious illness and is survived by his wife Anneli, three children and five grandchildren.
- He served in the Hessian Landtag for 35 years and led the chamber as president for more than 15 years from 2003 to 2019, a record tenure for that office.
- Kartmann began his public life as a primary and lower-secondary teacher of physics and religion and entered the Landtag in 1987 before becoming CDU parliamentary group leader from 1999 to 2003.
- As Landtag president he commissioned an inquiry into the Nazi-era past of former members, oversaw a broad update of the state constitution and managed major parliamentary building projects while steering debates during the Schwarzgeld-Affäre.
- He maintained long-standing ties to Romania rooted in his Transylvanian family background, received Romania’s highest order in 2018, and his death drew public tributes from Landtag president Astrid Wallmann and Minister-President Boris Rhein.