On the death of Wolfgang Schäuble - Farewell to political advisor and friend
Former Bundestag President Wolfgang Schäuble (1942-2023) is dead. The CDU politician died at home with his family on Tuesday evening at the age of 81. German politics is thus mourning the loss of its longest-serving parliamentarian - he had only celebrated his 50th anniversary as a member of the German Bundestag on December 13. The world of politics bows before the Freiburg native (Breisgau).
Steinmeier on Schäuble: "Politics was his lifeblood"
In his letter of condolence to his widow Ingeborg Schäuble (80), Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier (67) writes: "In Wolfgang Schäuble, we have lost a great person and passionate politician who achieved historic things for our country." He was a "stroke of luck for German history" and visionary. He also never lost sight of the essentials.
"Politics was his elixir of life," it continued. Schäuble enjoyed the greatest respect across all party boundaries - "whether as party or parliamentary group leader, whether as Chancellery Minister, Interior Minister, Finance Minister or President of the German Bundestag". Steinmeier praised Schäuble as a "highly sought-after advisor" and "outstanding statesman".
Angela Merkel mourns the loss of her "political mentor"
In a statement, former German Chancellor Angela Merkel (69) expressed great shock at the news of her party colleague's death. "In him, Germany has lost an outstanding personality with political and programmatic foresight," Merkel wrote. "I mourn the loss of a politician who shaped our country in many ways. He was one of the architects of German unity." As a young minister, Schäuble was her "political teacher". "Conversations with him were always intellectually enriching for me." Germany will miss his voice and she will personally miss his advice.
Angela Merkel's successor, the current Federal Chancellor Olaf Scholz (65, SPD), also paid tribute to Wolfgang Schäuble's "impressive and very long political career" in his letter of condolence. Scholz went on to write: "Germany is losing a formative Christian Democrat who liked to argue and yet never lost sight of what politics is all about: making the lives of citizens better." On X, he also paid tribute to Schäuble as a "sharp thinker, passionate politician and pugnacious democrat".
CDU leader and leader of the CDU/CSU parliamentary group in the Bundestag Friedrich Merz (68) expressed his sadness in a statement via X (formerly Twitter): "In Wolfgang Schäuble, I have lost the closest friend and advisor I have ever had in politics. My thoughts are with his family, especially his wife Ingeborg."
"A heavy loss for Germany and Europe"
Other voices from the world of politics expressed their condolences to Schäuble's family. Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock (43) expressed her "deepest sympathy" via X, as did Green Party Chairman Omid Nouripour (48), Bundestag President Bärbel Bas (55, SPD) in her letter of condolence and in further statements Vice President Katrin Göring-Eckhardt (57, Greens), Finance Minister Christian Lindner (44, FDP), Federal Interior Minister Nancy Faeser (53, SPD) and EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen (65). "Wolfgang Schäuble's death is a great loss for Germany and Europe. Through his actions and his example, he shaped German democracy like no other. He always thought big and far ahead," she wrote at X.
Wolfgang Schäuble leaves behind Ingeborg Schäuble, to whom he had been married since 1969, as well as their four children and four grandchildren.
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Source: www.stern.de
