Newly elected Bundestagsraesident Wolfgang Schaeuble, smiles as he conducts the first plenary session at the German lower house of Parliament, Bundestag, after a general election in Berlin, Germany, October 24, 2017.
After more than 50 years of service in the German parliament, Wolfgang Schaeuble passed away at the age of 81, capping one of Germany’s longest political careers during which he contributed to securing his nation’s standing as a major player in Europe.
A center-right Christian Democrats (CDU) spokesman said on Wednesday that Schaeuble, who devoted a large portion of his career to bringing his country back together and later served as former chancellor Angela Merkel’s finance minister during the eurozone debt crisis, passed away quietly late on Tuesday.
Schaeuble had entered parliament in 1972 after joining the CDU in 1965.
In a social media post on X, Chancellor Olaf Scholz expressed his sorrow on Schaeuble’s passing, writing, “Germany has lost a sharp thinker, passionate politician, and pugnacious democrat.”
Friedrich Merz, head of the CDU, expressed his profound sorrow for Schaeuble’s passing on X.
In Wolfgang Schaeuble, I lost the dearest friend and adviser I’ve ever had in politics
Merz
France also offered tributes, with Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire expressing his “deep sadness” for X.
He was a friend, a loyal and reliable partner and a tireless craftsman of the friendship between Germany and France
Le Marie in a letter
Schaeuble, who once oversaw Merkel before their jobs were switched, controlled Germany’s reaction to the euro zone crisis by winning the right flank of their conservative coalition to approve three bailouts for Greece.
Soon after Merkel welcomed hundreds of thousands of migrants into Germany in November 2015, he warned that the nation was at risk of “an avalanche” of refugees brought on by “careless” measures.
Later on, though, he came to Merkel’s defense of her open-door immigration policy when the Alternative for Germany (AfD) entered the discussion and charged that the far-right party was fostering bigotry.
As Merz’s term came to an end, the AfD gained strength and credibility against the CDU, accusing the center-right party of stealing its immigration rhetoric.
After being wounded three times during an election campaign event shortly after Germany’s reunification, Schaeuble has been confined to a wheelchair since 1990.
The Legacy of German Political Icon Wolfgang Schaeuble
For the majority of his career, Wolfgang Schäuble had advocated for a peaceful, united Europe. In addition, he was a supporter of austerity, and his rigidity in the face of Greece’s financial hardships has come to represent Europe’s strict guidelines for the country.
In the most significant examination of Europe’s single-currency experiment to far, German Finance Minister Schäuble was both a public hero and a trailblazer. There aren’t many people on the continent who are more passionate about the significance of economic unity. However, Schäuble (pronounced SHOY-bleh) believed that being a part of the euro zone has a cost: ”bailout money must be returned, no matter how crushing the debt is.”
A staunch supporter of Europe, Mr. Schäuble served as Ms. Merkel’s useful counterbalance in Brussels, taking a harsh stance on issues ranging from Greek withdrawal from the euro to budgetary regulations within the eurozone. The twin game of salt and pepper stops as the discussion over the EMU shifts from crisis to consolidation.
Mr. Schäuble’s impending departure leaves a huge gap in European politics. Loved or hated, he has been a force for stability who played a leading role in keeping the eurozone from disintegrating during a debt crisis that began in 2010.
