Wolfgang Schäuble, former German finance minister, longstanding senior lawmaker and a key figure behind Berlin’s controversial austerity push during the eurozone financial crisis, has died at the age of 81.
Schäuble, a member of the center-right Christian Democratic Union (CDU) since 1965, “fell asleep peacefully at home with his family” on Tuesday evening after a long, serious illness, his family told German press agency DPA. CDU leader Friedrich Merz expressed his grief in a post on X, writing: “I am losing the closest friend and advisor I have ever had in politics.”
Schäuble, who was born 1942 in Freiburg in southwestern Germany, started his political career during his law studies and entered the Bundestag, the lower house of parliament, in 1972, in which he had continuously served, making him the most senior German lawmaker at the time of this death. He also served as parliamentary president from 2017 to 2021 and was still spotted in the plenary in late November.
Schäuble served in government in various functions, first under former Chancellor Helmut Kohl as minister for special tasks and head of chancellery from 1984 to 1989, and as interior minister from 1989 to 1991. Former Chancellor Angela Merkel appointed him again as interior minister from 2005 to 2009 and as finance minister from 2009 to 2017.
It was during this latter function that Schäuble reached international fame, but also sparked strong controversy, as the face behind the strict austerity measures that the German government imposed on Greece and other southern European countries during the 2010-2015 eurozone crisis.
Schäuble, who was paraplegic and confined to a wheelchair after a mentally ill man shot him during an election campaign rally in 1990, had been known for striving to become as successor to Kohl as chancellor — a dream that was thwarted when Kohl and the CDU were ousted from power in 1998.
His reputation was tarnished by a party donation scandal that engulfed the CDU in 1999 and 2000. He admitted having received a dubious cash donation of 100,000 deutschmarks from an arms dealer, which led to his resignation as party chief in 2000. Merkel rehabilitated him five years later by appointing him minister, stressing her trust in him.
Schäuble is survived by his wife, Ingeborg, and their four children.
