Berlin, Germany – Wolfgang Schäuble, Germany’s iron-willed finance minister during the eurozone crisis and a towering figure in post-war politics, has died at the age of 81. His family confirmed the news on Wednesday, casting a long shadow over Germany’s political landscape.
Schäuble’s tenure at the helm of the Finance Ministry (2009-2017) coincided with the continent’s financial earthquake. Greece teetered on the brink of collapse, the euro’s survival hung in the balance, and fear gripped Europe. It was in this crucible that Schäuble’s legacy was forged.
His unyielding austerity measures, demanding fiscal discipline from debt-laden southern European states, earned him both ardent praise and fierce criticism. He became the face of Germany’s “black zero” – a balanced budget achieved through rigorous belt-tightening. While hailed as a fiscal guardian angel by some, others condemned him for economic suffocation.
But Schäuble was more than just a budget hawk. He was a political veteran, a survivor. He had navigated the corridors of power for over five decades, serving as Interior Minister under both Helmut Kohl and Angela Merkel, playing a pivotal role in German reunification, and even leading the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) for a brief period.
His life was marked by both triumph and tragedy. In 1990, just months after reunification, he was shot by a deranged man, leaving him paralyzed and confined to a wheelchair. Yet, he persevered, his sharp intellect and unwavering resolve propelling him to the pinnacle of German politics.
Tributes poured in from across the political spectrum. Former Chancellor Merkel, with whom he shared a complex relationship, called him “one of the most important political figures of our country.” Current Chancellor Olaf Scholz, from the rival Social Democrats, acknowledged his “impressive and very long career,” while President Frank-Walter Steinmeier hailed him as a “stroke of luck for German history.”