Her death was reported by Germany’s DPA news agency on Sunday.
A member of the conservative Christian Democratic Union, Süssmuth served in parliament from 1987 to 1998, first in the West German Bundestag and later in the all-German parliament after reunification.
She was president of the Bundestag—the parliament’s highest office—from 1988 to 1998. Earlier, she served as minister for youth, family and health.
Süssmuth was deeply involved for decades in efforts to improve relations between Germany and Poland, Polish state news agency PAP reported.
Last year, she received the prestigious Polish-German Prize in recognition of her contribution to reconciliation and to strengthening bilateral relations.
Poland's Foreign Minister Radosław Sikorski congratulates Rita Süssmuth on winning the Polish-German Prize in February last year. Photo: Polish Ministry of Foreign Affairs
The prize jury described her as "probably the most influential German alive in the area of our bilateral relations."
During negotiations over German reunification, Süssmuth pressed for swift recognition of the Polish-German border along the Oder and Neisse rivers and publicly criticised then-Chancellor Helmut Kohl for delaying the issue.
She also worked to defuse tensions after some Germans resettled at the end of World War II sought to reclaim former property in areas that are now part of Poland.
For many years, Süssmuth served as director of the German Institute for Polish Affairs in Darmstadt, a leading research centre focused on Poland.
More recently, she chaired the board of the Polish-German Societies, a network of organisations promoting Polish history, literature and art in Germany.
In public statements, Süssmuth repeatedly called for closer ties between German and Polish civil societies and warned against nationalist sentiment.
"By not caring about good relations with Poland in Europe, Germany loses a lot, not only in bilateral relations but also on the European stage," she said at a Polish-German summit in Darmstadt in 2010.
Within her own party, Süssmuth often clashed with its predominantly male leadership as she pushed for a greater role for women in politics and advocated more liberal abortion laws, the PAP news agency reported.
German media often described her as ahead of her time.
(pm/gs)
Source: PAP