Charismatic Berlin mayor Klaus Wowereit told reporters he would resign Dec. 11 after more than 13 years in office, according to Reuters.
Berlin's first openly gay mayor, Wowereit helped turn the city into a top tourist destination, Reuters reported.
Wowereit coined its famous "Poor, but sexy" slogan, which helped attract hip youngsters from around the globe to the city's famous nightlife and highlighted Berlin's low living costs, Reuters reported. He said he was grateful to have been in charge as "Berlin became an international metropolis."
"It's good that the city has internationalized itself, but it's also as important that the city remains livable," the Social Democrat said, according to Reuters.
Wowereit, who still had two more years in office, says continued speculation over his future amid his plummeting popularity had made it difficult to govern, Reuters reported. "The decision did not come easily," he said.
He said his "greatest defeat" was that the Willy Brandt airport planned for the capital has not yet opened, according to Reuters.
It was first scheduled to be ready late 2011 but has been repeatedly delayed as costs have more than doubled to some 5.4 billion euros ($7.1 billion) and it is still not clear when it will open, Reuters reported.
Wowereit governed for a decade in a coalition with the formerly communist Left Party, but had to form a coalition with the state branch of Chancellor Angela Merkel's Christian Democrats after elections in 2011, according to Reuters.
National Left Party leader Gregor Gysi said that while Wowereit leaves behind him the airport debacle and other issues, he should also be given credit for an "important chapter in the development of Berlin," Reuters reported.
"He had a big role in ensuring that the German capital has become a metropolis. Especially culturally Berlin has significantly advanced," Gysi said in a statement, according to Reuters. "It was also to Klaus Wowereit's great credit that he was the first politician to openly declare his homosexuality, which clearly gave great support to the fight for equality by lesbians and gay men."
