Famous German politician passed away

Famous German politician passed away

The legend of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) passed away in his sleep.

Schäuble, who was part of the Bundestag for more than 50 years, is survived by his wife, four children and four grandchildren.

He was born in Freiburg in 1942, where he studied, and then he studied at the University of Hamburg.

He started his career at the district court in Offenburg in 1978. His political career began in 1969, and already three years later he was elected to the Bundestag by winning the constituency seat in Offenburg.

His ministerial career began in 1984 when Chancellor Helmut Kohl appointed him Minister for Special Affairs. In 1989, Schäuble was appointed Minister of the Interior and led reunification negotiations on behalf of the Federal Republic of Germany.

During his tenure as interior minister, Schäuble was one of Germany's most popular politicians and was regularly mentioned as a possible future chancellor, although he occasionally faced criticism from civil rights activists for his law-and-order policies.

After the CDU/CSU's defeat in the 1998 federal election, Schäuble succeeded his mentor Helmut Kohl as CDU chairman, but resigned after less than two years following a party funding scandal.

In 2005, Schäuble again became Minister of the Interior in Chancellor Angela Merkel's cabinet, and in 2009, Minister of Finance, a position he held for almost eight years. Many considered him to be, after Angela Merkel, the most powerful figure in Germany.

He will be remembered by the world for the tough stance he took on southern European countries during the eurozone crisis and for rejecting calls from the International Monetary Fund to give Greece more time to rein in its deficit.

An advocate of austerity, Schäuble's 2014 budget made Germany debt-free for the first time since 1969.