CDU politician Wolfgang Schäuble dies at the age of 81
CDU chairman and Union parliamentary group leader Friedrich Merz wrote to the members of the CDU/CSU parliamentary group in the Bundestag that Germany was losing "a personality who had shaped German and European politics for decades". He personally lost his "closest friend and advisor I have ever had in politics", Merz wrote in the message to the CDU/CSU MPs, which was made available to AFP.
There was also mourning in other parties. Federal Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) wrote on X (formerly Twitter) that with Schäuble, Germany had lost "a sharp thinker, passionate politician and feisty democrat".
Federal Minister of the Interior Nancy Faeser(SPD) declared: "Wolfgang Schäuble was a great statesman. He embodied post-war democratic Germany like few others."
Speaking on behalf of the Green parliamentary group in the Bundestag, Katharina Dröge and Britta Haßelmann said that am D's work had "shaped this country". They thanked him for "his impressive commitment to our parliamentarianism and our democracy."
Schäuble held several ministerial posts under Chancellor Helmut Kohl and Chancellor Angela Merkel (both CDU). He was Head of the Chancellery, Minister of the Interior and most recently Federal Minister of Finance until 2017. Schäuble was President of the Bundestag between 2017 and 2021.
Schäuble, who holds a doctorate in law, also served as leader of the CDU parliamentary group from 1991 to 2000 and was CDU party leader between 1998 and 2000. Schäuble has been in a wheelchair since an assassination attempt on his life in October 1990. Schäuble is survived by his wife Ingeborg and four children.
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- Friedrich Merz, the current CDU chairman, expressed his sorrow at Schäuble's passing, calling him a "personality who had shaped German and European politics for decades."
- Olaf Scholz, the SPD Federal Chancellor, also paid tribute to Schäuble, acknowledging Germany's loss of a "sharp thinker, passionate politician, and feisty democrat."
- Schäuble served as the CDU/CSU parliamentary group leader in the Bundestag from 1991 to 2000 and was the party leader between 1998 and 2000.
- The SPD Federal Minister of the Interior, Nancy Faeser, praised Schäuble as a "great statesman" who embodied post-war democratic Germany more than most.
- Under Chancellors Helmut Kohl and Angela Merkel, Schäuble held various ministerial positions, including serving as Head of the Chancellery, Minister of the Interior, and Federal Minister of Finance.
- After an assassination attempt in 1990, Schäuble has been in a wheelchair, but he continued his political career, serving as President of the Bundestag from 2017 to 2021.
- Condolences also came from the Green parliamentary group in the Bundestag, with Katharina Dröge and Britta Haßelmann acknowledging Schäuble's significant impact on German parliamentarianism and democracy.
- Merz, the CDU/CSU parliamentary group leader, noted the loss of his "closest friend and advisor I have ever had in politics" following Schäuble's passing at the age of 81 in Freiburg.
- Wolfgang Schäuble, a respected CDU politician, died at the age of 81, leaving behind his wife Ingeborg and four children, and a legacy as a notable figure in German and European politics.
Source: www.stern.de
