Thomas Schaefer, the German finance minister of Hesse, is believed to have committed suicide due to "being too worried" about how to cope with the economic collapse caused by Covid-19.

Schaefer, 54, was found dead near a train track on March 28. The Wiesbaden City Prosecutor's Office said they believed he had committed suicide.

"We are very shocked ... Above all, we are deeply saddened," Hesse Governor Volker Bouffier said in the statement.

According to Bouffier, Schaefer has served as Hesse Minister of Finance for 10 years. He worked "day and night" to help companies and workers cope with the economic impacts of Covid-19.

"We think he was extremely worried," the Hesse chief minister said. "This is precisely the difficult period in which we need people like him."

Schaefer has long been considered the successor to Premier Bouffier. He left behind a wife and two children.

Hesse has the financial capital of Frankfurt, the home of major lenders such as Deutsche Bank and Commerzbank. The European Central Bank is also based in Frankfurt.

Germany has recorded more than 58,000 cases and more than 450 people died from Covid-19.