Former German President Horst Köhler dies at 81

Horst Köhler, former German president known for his outsider approach, dies at 81 after a short illness.

Horst Köhler, a one-time head of the International Monetary Fund who became a popular German president before stunning the country by resigning abruptly in a flap over comments about the country's military, has died. He was 81.

Köhler, who was head of State from 2004 to 2010, died Saturday morning in Berlin after a short illness, surrounded by his family, the office of current German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier said in a statement.

Köhler was little known to most Germans and a stranger to front-line politics before he won the presidency. His nomination was greeted by the mass-circulation daily Bild with the headline "Horst Who?"

However, he built up high popularity ratings once in the job, something that he achieved in part by positioning himself as an outsider to the country's political elite.

He occasionally refused to sign bills into law due to constitutional concerns and didn't always make himself popular with the government of Chancellor Angela Merkel, whose choice he was for the presidency — a largely ceremonial job but often seen as a source of moral authority.

Köhler was elected before Merkel came to power, at a time when Germany was struggling to come to terms with labor market reforms and welfare state cuts. He said Germans must not rest on past achievements, and said he was "deeply convinced Germany has the strength for change."

In July 2005, Köhler agreed to dissolve parliament and grant struggling then-Chancellor Gerhard Schröder an unusual early election. He declared that Germany faced "giant challenges" and that "our future and the future of our children is at stake."