Wolfgang Schaeuble, German finance minister during euro debt crisis, dies
Schaeuble spent much of his career devoted to re-unifying his country and later served as former chancellor Angela Merkel's frugal finance minister during the eurozone debt crisis.
Wolfgang Schaeuble, who served 50 years as a member of Germany's lower house of parliament, the Bundestag, has died at the age of 81. / Photo: AP Archive
Wolfgang Schaeuble, who helped negotiate German reunification in 1990 and as finance minister was a central figure in the austerity-heavy effort to drag Europe out of its debt crisis more than two decades later, has died. He was 81.
Schaeuble died at home on Tuesday evening, his family told German news agency dpa on Wednesday.
Schaeuble was a member of Angela Merkel's centre-right Christian Democrats since 1965 and became a member of parliament in 1972, making him one of Germany's longest-serving politicians.
Schaeuble became Chancellor Angela Merkel’s finance minister in October 2009, just before revelations about Greece’s ballooning budget deficit set off the crisis that engulfed the continent and threatened to destabilize world’s financial order.
A longtime supporter of greater European unity, he helped lead a yearslong effort that aimed for deeper integration and a stricter rulebook. But Germany drew criticism for its emphasis on austerity and a perceived lack of generosity.
After eight years as finance minister, Schaeuble cemented his status as an elder statesman by becoming the German parliament’s speaker — the last step in a long front-line political career that saw him overcome daunting setbacks.
He was wheelchair-bound from 1990, when a deranged gunman's bullets crippled and almost killed him.
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