Schäuble was born on September 18, 1942 in Freiburg. He studied law, but was attracted to politics from an early age. In 1965 Schäuble joined the CDU. In 1972 he won a mandate for the first time in the Bundestag, where he served without interruption until his death.
Decades of German politics are associated with the name Schäuble. Under Chancellor Helmut Kohl (CDU), he was initially head of the Federal Chancellery and Federal Minister for Special Tasks, and from 1989 to 1991 he was Minister of the Interior. After the fall of the Berlin Wall, Schäuble helped negotiate the unification treaty in the GDR and was one of the architects of reunification.
Schäuble has been in a wheelchair since the assassination attempt on him by a mentally disturbed man in October 1990. From 1991 to 2000 he led the CDU/CSU parliamentary group. Kohl ran again in the 1998 federal election, but named Schäuble as his preferred successor afterwards. This should not happen. The Union lost the elections. Schäuble then became party leader and Angela Merkel became general secretary.
APA/dpa/Michael Jung Outgoing CDU leader Kohl congratulates newly elected president Wolfgang Schäuble at the CDU party conference in 1998
Schäuble shaped German politics for decades
Shortly afterwards, a donations scandal shocked the CDU. It cost Kohl the honorary presidency, but the turmoil also affected Schäuble. Under pressure from increasing revelations about a cash donation of 100,000 marks from the arms dealer Karlheinz Schreiber, Schäuble resigned as party and parliamentary group chairman in February 2000. There was a break with his former friend and sponsor Kohl .
Merkel became party leader and, in 2005, as chancellor, appointed Schäuble interior minister and, four years later, finance minister. Schäuble held the position for two electoral terms and achieved “black zero”, that is, a federal budget without new debts. In the Greek crisis, different opinions emerged from both sides. Meanwhile, Schäuble raised the possibility of Greece temporarily abandoning the euro. This caused a lot of criticism in Athens. Despite occasional differences, Schäuble remained loyal to Merkel.
IMAGO/photothek/Thomas Koehler Angela Merkel with Wolfgang Schäuble in 2001
He was denied the position of federal president
After the 2017 federal election, he was elected president of the Bundestag, the second highest office in the state, as successor to Norbert Lammert. He was considered several times for the highest position in the state, that of Federal President – but in the end it was denied to Schäuble.
Unlike the chancellor, the CDU politician did not abandon politics in 2021, after the Union lost power and ran again for the Bundestag. In his electoral district of Offenburg he won the direct mandate again. Schäuble remained a simple member of parliament. As senior president, Schäuble opened the first meeting and promoted open discourse and self-confident representatives. Schäuble saw himself as a “parliamentary with heart and soul,” as he once said.
APA/AFP/Odd Andersen No one has been a member of the Bundestag longer than Wolfgang Schäuble
High reputation in the party
In his party, Schäuble was one of the conservative politicians; Behind the scenes, his words always carried weight. On the other hand, before others, he had called on the CDU to be open to alliances with the Greens. As early as 2007, he told the “Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung”: “Black-green is not our desire, but it is an option for the Union.” leader Armin Laschet and opposed CSU head Markus Söder.
Politics also often played a role in Schäuble's private life. Father Karl Schäuble was already a CDU politician and member of the Baden state parliament. Schäuble's younger brother Thomas was also a politician; he was state minister in Baden-Württemberg for 13 years. He died in 2013 as a result of a heart attack. The CDU's top politician, Thomas Strobl, was Wolfgang Schäuble's son-in-law, daughter Christine, director of the ARD program and Strobl's wife. Schäuble is survived by a total of four children and his wife Ingeborg, to whom he has been married since 1969.
Wolfgang Schäuble died at age 81
Former President of the German Bundestag Wolfgang Schäuble has died at the age of 81. In his long political career, Schäuble was a minister, leader of the CDU, parliamentary group leader and president of the German Bundestag.
“Exceptional person”: Great sadness for Schäuble
There is great sadness for the CDU politician. Former Chancellor Merkel expressed her dismay in a broadcast: “With him, Germany is losing a remarkable personality with political and programmatic vision,” she wrote. She also described Schäuble as her “political teacher” and “the anchor of my first three cabinets.” “We will miss Wolfgang Schäuble’s voice in Germany and I personally will miss his advice,” Merkel said.
CDU President Friedrich Merz reacted with dismay to Schäuble's death. The news filled him with great sadness, wrote Merz on platform X (Twitter). He is losing the “closest friend and advisor I have ever had in politics. My thoughts are with his family, especially his wife, Ingeborg.”
CDU federal treasurer Julia Klöckner said his death gave pause and left people sad. She described Schäuble as an “exceptional person.” Bavarian Prime Minister Markus Söder also paid tribute to the late CDU politician's political achievements over the decades. “CSU will honor his memory,” he wrote in X.
The news of Wolfgang Schäuble's death yesterday fills me with great sadness. With Wolfgang Schäuble, I am losing my best friend and advisor I have ever had in politics. My thoughts are with his family, especially his wife, Ingeborg. (FM)
-Friedrich Merz (@_FriedrichMerz) December 27, 2023
Scholz: Germany loses “Christian Democrat in the making”
“Germany is losing a formative Christian Democrat who liked to argue, but never lost sight of what politics is all about: improving the lives of its citizens,” said a statement from Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD). German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier described Schäuble as a “lucky stroke of luck for German history.”
German Interior Minister Nancy Faeser praised him as a great statesman. “Almost no politician has shaped Germany’s recent history and our democratic culture as much as Wolfgang Schäuble,” Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock wrote in X.
Macron: “Friend of France”
“Not only were Wolfgang Schäuble's intellect and discipline remarkable, but also his deep respect for democratic discourse and his ability to constantly engage in new things,” European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen wrote in a statement. .
French President Emmanuel Macron saw Schäuble as a “friend of France”. The former Finance Minister “contributed to German reunification, the construction of the euro and European unity”, wrote Macron about the “most influential European leader of his generation”. In a statement about X, she highlighted his “commitment to Europe, his intellectual acuity and his statesmanship”.
I am deeply saddened to hear about Wolfgang #Schäubleis passing.
He was one of the most influential European leaders of his generation.
I personally witnessed his commitment to Europe, his intellectual rigor and his statesmanship.
My thoughts are with his family. pic.twitter.com/UriPmqH5TH
-Christine Lagarde (@Lagarde) December 27, 2023
The President of the National Council, Wolfgang Sobotka (ÖVP), was also deeply affected in a statement to the APA. “Wolfgang Schäuble wrote a piece of German history and never tired of calling for social cohesion to defend democracy to the end,” the statement said.
Harsh tones of Greece
Former Greek Finance Minister Gianis Varoufakis, with whom Schäuble had several discussions in the wake of the Greek crisis, struck a harsh note in his reaction: Schäuble “embodied the explosive contradiction that led to both the euro crisis and the measures to combat it. – measures that, on the one hand, led to the impoverishment of Greece and, on the other hand, to the current deindustrialization of Germany and Europe's slide into geopolitical insignificance,” he said in a statement.