Former German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble has died at the age of 81. Schaeuble, face of German austerity, member of the Bundestag for more than half a century, dedicated much of his career to the reunification of Germany. He has been a member of the center-right Christian Democratic Party since 1965 and became an MP in 1972, making him one of Germany’s longest-serving politicians. He had been in a wheelchair since 1990, after being injured and almost killed by a mentally ill man in October 1990. His family reported the German politician’s death after a long and serious illness to the Dpa news agency.
In his political career he was a minister, leader of the CDU, leader of a parliamentary group and president of the German Bundestag. Master of the rigor of public accounts, Schaeuble managed to achieve “net zero” during his term as Minister of Finance. He had studied law and among his main contributions to Germany was negotiating the GDR unification treaty after the fall of the Berlin Wall. From 1991 to 2000 he led the CDU/CSU parliamentary group. After the Union lost power in 1998, Schauble became party leader as part of the CDU’s realignment. He resigned from his position in February 2000 following the turmoil surrounding party donations and after declaring that he had made a cash donation of 100,000 marks. Angela Merkel became the party leader.
After the 2017 federal election, Schauble was elected president of the Bundestag, the second-highest state office, as successor to Norbert Lammert. Schauble was denied the highest office in the state, that of federal president. Schaeuble is survived by four children and his wife Ingeborg, to whom he has been married since 1969.
Source: IL Tempo
Emma Fitzgerald is an accomplished political journalist and author at The Nation View. With a background in political science and international relations, she has a deep understanding of the political landscape and the forces that shape it.
