Merkel: We will miss Schäuble's voice in Germany

Former German Chancellor Angela Merkel says she learnt of the death of her former finance minister Wolfgang Schäuble "with great dismay" and has characterized him as one of the country's most important political figures.

"Germany has lost an outstanding personality with political and tactical foresight," Merkel said in a statement. "We will miss Wolfgang Schäuble's voice in Germany and I will personally miss his advice."

He died aged 81. Schäuble was Merkel's finance minister during the eurozone debt crisis from 2009, where his demands for austerity from the likes of Greece made him a divisive figure in Europe.

He was interior minister for German reunification in 1990 and held the role again in Merkel's first cabinet.

"I mourn the loss of a politician who shaped our country in many ways," Merkel added. "As a young minister, Wolfgang Schäuble was my political mentor. As minister of the interior and minister of finance, he was one of the anchors of my first three cabinets."

Schäuble was paralysed after an assassination attempt in 1990 and used a wheelchair ever since.

"I admired his discipline, even towards himself, which he showed despite and because of his paraplegia after an assassination attempt. He became a role model for millions of people," she said.