Windthorst died of pneumonia, on 14 March 1891, in Berlin. Two days before, Emperor Wilhelm II paid him a visit at his deathbed. He was buried in the Marienkirche in Hannover, which had been erected from the money subscribed as a testimonial to him. The church was destroyed by bombing raids which occurred from July 1943-March 1945 during the Second World War, though his grave was spared, and reconstructed in 1953/4. His funeral was a most remarkable display of public esteem, in which nearly all the ruling princes of Germany joined, and was a striking sign of the position to which, after twenty years of incessant struggle, he had raised his party.