Major German newspapers on Tuesday are mourning the passing of United States Secretary of State Colin L. Powell. Most papers lead with the story of his resignation and a number of editorialists pen obituary-like opinion pieces for the man many in Europe saw as the only member of the first George W. Bush administration who really understood Europe.

SPIEGEL ONLINE sets the tone with an editorial from Monday afternoon called "The Resignation of a Tragic Figure." The editorial mentions what, from the European perspective, was Powell's low point when he went before the United Nations Security Council in January, 2003 to prove to the world that Iraq was developing nuclear weapons and other WMDs. But aside from that one critique, the impression is positive. "Powell was the voice of logic, of balance, of hope amid the circle of tough, power-politicians and neo-conservative world-changers.... He was the intermediary -- the diplomat in the choir of hardliners."

The position is one that most Europeans share; Bush is generally seen as something of a bull in a china shop whereas Powell is seen as someone who values discussion and consensus -- both highly regarded qualities in European politics. The image of Powell as a lone fox within the Bush government is widespread. The influential, conservative daily Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung comments that his resignation is not at all surprising. Although he was consistently loyal to President Bush, in the end, he was marginalized. "In the bureaucratic battles," the paper writes, "the strongest battalions were not on the side of this hesitant and unassertive soldier."

The financial daily Handelsblatt is likewise mournful of the loss of what it describes as "Europe's most valuable partner in Washington" and leads with a front-page photo of a sad-looking Powell. The paper warns that, despite Bush's expressed desire to improve trans-Atlantic relations, he "is not likely to change his course by even one millimeter.... Powell's retirement means a strengthening for the flag-bearers of the 'Coalition of the Willing' -- especially Vice President Dick Cheney and Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld."

The editorial on Powell in the Financial Times Deutschland is called "The Nice American," and argues that losing him is a great loss for Europe. It provides the following description of the outgoing secretary: "Powell is the American minister who speaks with the United Nations. He was the temperate one, the nice one in a cabinet that made Europe so angry. He was the minister that gave the old continent the feeling that it was still taken seriously. He was the one who dealt with the hardliners Donald Rumsfeld and Dick Cheney." The paper wonders if the installation of a hawk in the State Department will enlarge the trench that currently exists between Europe and the United States.

For the right-leaning paper Die Welt, all of these laudatory comments and fears of a change for the worse are too much. Talk about Powell being Europe's only hope in American politics "is rubbish through and through. The foreign policy of the last four years did not carry Powell's signature, but that of the president," the paper points out. "This will not change. The secretary of state is departing, a new one will come. That's all."

Aside from Powell, German papers on Tuesday take a look at a number of stories ranging from German health reform and the opposition's somewhat clumsy handling of their position on the issue to Greece's long-term lying about their budget deficit to become part of the euro-zone. The news out of Iran -- that the country is planning to abandon uranium enrichment apparently as a result of European pressure -- likewise strikes a chord in the press. German editorialists are skeptical of Iran's motives.

The left-leaning Sueddeutsche Zeitung leads the way in sounding the warning bells. "It sounds like a triumph for Europe's troika," it writes. "Germany, France and Britain have convinced Iran to give way and have defused the conflict without having to go to the UN Security Council. What the Americans failed to do in Iraq with bombs, the Europeans have achieved in Iran with words. But Iran has tricked and disappointed the West too many times. The suspension of uranium enrichment is, according to Tehran, voluntary, unbinding and temporary -- this shows that the regime merely wanted to avoid the Council's involvement. A change of attitude has not occurred."