BERLIN — Germany's respected news weekly Der Spiegel has mistakenly published an obituary for former U.S. President George H.W. Bush.

The unfinished obituary appeared on Der Spiegel's website for only a few minutes Sunday before it was spotted by Internet users and removed.

In it, the magazine's New York correspondent Marc Pitzke describes Bush as "a colorless politician" whose image only improved when it was compared to the later presidency of his son, George W. Bush.

Bush was hospitalized in Houston Nov. 23 for treatment of a bronchitis-related cough. He was moved to intensive care on Dec. 23 after he developed a fever.

A family spokesman says the 88-year-old former president was moved out of intensive care into a regular hospital room again Saturday after his condition improved.