He helped negotiate the reunification of Germany in 1990 and, more than two decades later, played a central role in austerity efforts to lift Europe out of its debt crisis. Former German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schäuble died on the evening of December 26th at the age of 81, his family told the German Press Agency DPA on Wednesday. Wolfgang Schäuble was a member of the Bundestag for half a century and one of the most important figures in German political life of the last thirty years.
Born on September 18, 1942 in Freiburg, he initially worked as a tax officer in his home state of Baden-Württemberg in the southwest of the country before being elected to the Bundestag of the Federal Republic of Germany in 1972. He first entered the government of the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG) in 1984, serving as Chief of Staff to Chancellor Helmut Kohl for five years before becoming Minister of the Interior (1989-1991).
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Actor of reunification, victim of an attack
In this position, Mr. Schäuble was a key negotiator in the reunification of Germany following the fall of the Berlin Wall on November 9, 1989, and contributed to the preparation of the treaty that created the legal framework for reunification and came into force on October 3, 1990. Nine days after reunification, Wolfgang Schäuble was the victim of an attack in Oppenau in southwest Germany while campaigning for the unified country's first elections. An attacker with a history of mental illness shoots him in the spine, paralyzing him for life. Another bullet hits him in the face, leading to the latter requiring plastic surgery.
Schäuble, who was now a paraplegic, quickly returned to politics. From 1991 to 1998 he was parliamentary group leader of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU), before taking over the leadership of the conservative party after his defeat in the federal election, thus succeeding Kohl. But two years later he had to give up the party leadership after being reeling from the CDU financial scandal involving Mr. Kohl and the party's bribes, and then handed it over to Angela Merkel.
Proponents of austerity
After another stint in the Interior Ministry from 2005 to 2009 under Ms. Merkel's Chancellorship, the right-wing politician became her finance minister from 2009 to 2017. During the Eurozone debt crisis, Wolfgang Schäuble was an uncompromising advocate of austerity.
A long-time supporter of greater European unity, he helped lead years-long efforts to strengthen integration and introduce stricter rules. Germany was subsequently criticized for the importance it attached to austerity policies and for its lack of solidarity with member states.
After eight years as finance minister, Schäuble cemented his status as an experienced statesman by becoming President of the Bundestag from 2017 to 2021. This was the final step in a long and distinguished political career in which he had overcome many discouraging setbacks.
Here you can find our archive 2017: Wolfgang Schäuble, the spoilsport of the eurozone