He helped negotiate German reunification in 1990 and played a central role in the austerity efforts to pull Europe out of its debt crisis more than two decades later. Former German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schäuble died at the age of 81 on the evening of Tuesday, December 26, his family announced to German news agency DPA on Wednesday.
A member of the Bundestag for half a century, Wolfgang Schäuble devoted the first part of his career to the reunification of Germany. From 1991 to 1998, he was the parliamentary leader of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU), the conservative party of Helmut Kohl. He then became Chancellor Angela Merkel’s finance minister in 2009 until 2017, being an uncompromising defender of fiscal austerity during the eurozone debt crisis.
A longtime supporter of greater European unity, he helped lead a years-long effort to strengthen integration and establish tougher rules. Germany was then criticized for the importance it placed on austerity and for its lack of solidarity with member countries.
After eight years as finance minister, Schäuble consolidated his status as an elder statesman by becoming President of the Bundestag in 2017, serving until 2021, the final step in a long, prominent political career that saw him overcome discouraging setbacks.
