FRANKFURT, Oct 7, 2008 (AFP) - The head of the troubled German mortgage lender Hypo Real Estate, Georg Funke, has resigned, the fourth biggest German bank said in a statement.

Funke's future was in doubt after his bank needed a 50-billion-euro (68-billion-dollar) bailout and German Chancellor Angela Merkel said: 'those who managed their company in an irresponsible way will have to answer for it.'

The bank said Tuesday that Funke's successor would be named later in the day.

Hypo Real Estate got two emergency credit lines in just over a week from public and private banks, and the government has guaranteed almost 27 billion euros in credit to the bank, which specialises in property financing.

German officials reproached Funke for not giving them an accurate picture of how much cash the bank needed when a first credit line worth 35 billion euros was agreed upon.

A second credit line of 15 billion euros was added over the weekend, with Finance Minister Peer Steinbrueck saying that it was 'inconceivable to be able to continue working with the present management' of HRE.

The total 50-billion-euro lifeline for stricken HRE was agreed in crisis talks between the government, the European Central Bank, the German Bundesbank central bank, market regulators and the banking sector.