Family of German statesman Schäuble, top politicians attend funeral

Several hundred people, including top politicians and family members, attended the funeral on Friday for the late German statesman Wolfgang Schäuble.

The former interior and finance minister shaped German politics for decades.

He was recognized for having helped forge German reunification in 1990 and steering the eurozone through its debt crisis with sometimes unpopular prescriptions, like pressuring Greece into accepting tough austerity measures in 2009.

The conservative Christian Democrat, one of former chancellor Angela Merkel's most important confidants, also served as president of the Bundestag and was lauded for his commitment to work despite being paralysed after being shot by a mentally disturbed man in 1990.

Schäuble died on December 26 aged 81 after a long illness.

The service at the Protestant church in the south-western city of Offenburg was carried out by the bishop of Baden, Heike Springhart.

Springhart described Schäuble as an independent spirit, a persistent fighter for democracy and a far-sighted European.

"Wolfgang Schäuble lived from a strength that was greater than himself. With his wisdom and the Black Forest's own mixture of perseverance and mischievousness, he shaped the democratic culture in our country and fought for the preservation of democracy to the very end," she said in her sermon.

During his career, he was a minister, CDU leader, parliamentary group chairman and president of the German Bundestag. No one was a member of parliament longer than him.

His work was recently honoured across party lines. President Frank-Walter Steinmeier called Schäuble a "stroke of luck for German history."

Among the mourners were Interior Minister Nancy Faeser, CDU leader Friedrich Merz and Baden-Württemberg state premier Winfried Kretschmann.

Schäuble's coffin was laid out in front of the altar with a black, red and gold flag and a federal eagle, flanked by six federal police officers. In front of it was a huge heart with red roses and a wreath from his family.

After the service, a military salute was planned. The cortège will then travel about a kilometre to the cemetery.

A memorial service will also be held in Berlin's Reichstag on January 22 when German President Steinmeier and other high-profile German and foreign guests, such as French President Emmanuel Macron, are expected to be in attendance.