Key German reunification figure Wolfgang Schäuble dies at 81
Wolfgang Schäuble, one of the most important figures in German political life over the last 30 years - and considered instrumental to German reunification - has died at aged 81.
Schaeuble, who was a minister under both chancellors Helmut Kohl and Angela Merkel, died peacefully in the night, the Bild daily reported.
Chancellor Olaf Scholz said Schäuble had "shaped our country for more than half a century".
"Germany has lost a sharp thinker, passionate politician and pugnacious democrat," Scholz wrote on X, formerly Twitter.
Wolfgang Schäuble hat unser Land mehr als ein halbes Jahrhundert geprägt: als Abgeordneter, Minister und Bundestagspräsident. Mit ihm verliert Deutschland einen scharfen Denker, leidenschaftlichen Politiker und streitbaren Demokraten. Meine Gedanken sind heute bei seiner Familie. pic.twitter.com/x1WsRHYJXe
— Bundeskanzler Olaf Scholz (@Bundeskanzler) December 27, 2023
Born in Freiburg in 1942, Schäuble was the longest-serving member of Germany's Bundestag lower house of parliament, where he had sat since 1972.
It was under former conservative leader Kohl that the pro-European Schaeuble forged his career, rising through the ranks to eventually become Kohl's chief of staff, and was long seen as the chancellor's heir apparent.
Together they oversaw Germany's national reunification, before personal tragedy struck Schäuble -- an assassination attempt by a deranged man in 1990 badly injured him and forced him to use a wheelchair for the rest of his life.
As finance minister for several years under Merkel, Schäuble carved out a reputation as the guardian of German budgetary rigour, particularly during the Greek debt crisis.
"There is hardly another politician who has shaped recent German history and our democratic culture as much as Wolfgang Schaeuble," Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock wrote on X, praising his "outstanding services to German and European unification".
Kaum ein Politiker hat die jüngste deutsche Geschichte und unsere demokratische Kultur so geprägt wie Wolfgang Schäuble. Und sich derart verdient gemacht um die deutsche & europäische Einigung. Seiner Familie gilt mein tiefes Mitgefühl.
— Außenministerin Annalena Baerbock (@ABaerbock) December 27, 2023
Schäuble was one of the co-sponsors of a draft law in 1991 that saw Germany's capital move from Bonn back to Berlin, with the Bundestag only narrowly voting in favour of returning the capital city back to Berlin.
Some parliamentarians at the time reported that Schäuble's impassioned speech before the vote in favour of Berlin helped sway their vote.
READ ALSO:
- Bonn to Berlin move still controversial
- 25 years on, Germany's 'two capitals' still causing headaches
Later in life, he was still an oft-cited political commentator in Germany, including one incident where he encouraged Germans to 'stop whining' about higher gas prices following Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
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Schaeuble, who was a minister under both chancellors Helmut Kohl and Angela Merkel, died peacefully in the night, the Bild daily reported.
Chancellor Olaf Scholz said Schäuble had "shaped our country for more than half a century".
"Germany has lost a sharp thinker, passionate politician and pugnacious democrat," Scholz wrote on X, formerly Twitter.
Wolfgang Schäuble hat unser Land mehr als ein halbes Jahrhundert geprägt: als Abgeordneter, Minister und Bundestagspräsident. Mit ihm verliert Deutschland einen scharfen Denker, leidenschaftlichen Politiker und streitbaren Demokraten. Meine Gedanken sind heute bei seiner Familie. pic.twitter.com/x1WsRHYJXe
— Bundeskanzler Olaf Scholz (@Bundeskanzler) December 27, 2023
Born in Freiburg in 1942, Schäuble was the longest-serving member of Germany's Bundestag lower house of parliament, where he had sat since 1972.
It was under former conservative leader Kohl that the pro-European Schaeuble forged his career, rising through the ranks to eventually become Kohl's chief of staff, and was long seen as the chancellor's heir apparent.
Together they oversaw Germany's national reunification, before personal tragedy struck Schäuble -- an assassination attempt by a deranged man in 1990 badly injured him and forced him to use a wheelchair for the rest of his life.
As finance minister for several years under Merkel, Schäuble carved out a reputation as the guardian of German budgetary rigour, particularly during the Greek debt crisis.
"There is hardly another politician who has shaped recent German history and our democratic culture as much as Wolfgang Schaeuble," Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock wrote on X, praising his "outstanding services to German and European unification".
Kaum ein Politiker hat die jüngste deutsche Geschichte und unsere demokratische Kultur so geprägt wie Wolfgang Schäuble. Und sich derart verdient gemacht um die deutsche & europäische Einigung. Seiner Familie gilt mein tiefes Mitgefühl.
— Außenministerin Annalena Baerbock (@ABaerbock) December 27, 2023
Schäuble was one of the co-sponsors of a draft law in 1991 that saw Germany's capital move from Bonn back to Berlin, with the Bundestag only narrowly voting in favour of returning the capital city back to Berlin.
Some parliamentarians at the time reported that Schäuble's impassioned speech before the vote in favour of Berlin helped sway their vote.
READ ALSO:
- Bonn to Berlin move still controversial
- 25 years on, Germany's 'two capitals' still causing headaches
Later in life, he was still an oft-cited political commentator in Germany, including one incident where he encouraged Germans to 'stop whining' about higher gas prices following Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
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