Wolfgang Schäuble, German finance minister in euro crisis, dies at 81

Wolfgang Schäuble, Germany's finance minister during the eurozone debt crisis, has died at the age of 81, his family told dpa on Wednesday.

Schäuble took on the post in 2009 and came to be seen as one of the most powerful figures in then chancellor Angela Merkel's government.

The start of his tenure coincided with the beginning of a European debt crisis that saw several states, particularly Greece, unable to bail out their banks or pay off their own debt. The crisis brought fears that the euro currency itself could fail.

Schäuble's austerity policies and strict line towards the southern European states earned him both heavy criticism and high praise during his eight years in the role.

Differences of opinion with Merkel over his uncompromising treatment of Greece emerged but she kept him on.

Despite the crisis he achieved the "black zero" for Germany - a federal budget without new debt.

He was later appointed the speaker of the Bundestag, the lower house of Germany's parliament, a post he held until 2021.

Before joining the Finance Ministry, he had been interior minister twice under both Merkel and one of her predecessors Helmut Kohl - being a key part of the negotiating team during German reunification in 1990 under Kohl.

He paid a heavy price, being shot at a rally by a mentally disturbed man just after reunification and ending up paralysed. He used a wheelchair for the rest of his life.

Between the two chancellors, Schäuble even led the centre-right Christian Democratic Union (CDU) for over a year between November 1998 and February 2000 when the party was in opposition, but stepped down over a donations scandal.

In all his career spanned more than five decades, making him Germany's long-serving member of parliament.

Current CDU leader Friedrich Merz said on X: "In Wolfgang Schäuble, I have lost the closest friend and adviser I have ever had in politics. My thoughts are with his family, especially his wife Ingeborg."

Schäuble, who was born in the south-western German city of Freiburg in 1942, died peacefully in his sleep on Tuesday evening surrounded by his family. He had suffered a long and serious illness.