Germany says goodbye to Wolfgang Schäuble. Angela Merkel and Emmanuel Macron also graced the state ceremony in Berlin.
Farewell to Wolfgang Schäuble (1942-2023). In Berlin, the deceased CDU politician was commemorated on Monday with an act of mourning and a previous church service. In addition to numerous companions, the guests in the Berlin Cathedral and the German Bundestag also included former Chancellor Angela Merkel (69), who, together with Schäuble, had a lasting influence on political events over the last decades. Under Merkel, Schäuble was, among other things, interior minister and finance minister. The native of Freiburg had previously been a member of the government under CDU Chancellor Helmut Kohl (1930-2017) from 1984.
In addition to Merkel, Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier (68) and his wife Elke Büdenbender (62), who supported Schäuble’s widow Ingeborg (80) as they walked into the church, also came. Federal Chancellor Olaf Scholz (65, SPD) also attended the service. At the subsequent state ceremony in the Reichstag building, Schäuble’s confidant and current CDU leader Friedrich Merz (68) and French President Emmanuel Macron (46), among others, gave moving speeches. In his emotional words, the latter particularly emphasized the great importance of Schäuble for European politics, who is considered one of the great architects of today’s EU. “Germany has lost a statesman, Europe has lost a pillar, France has lost a friend,” said Macron, who delivered large parts of his eulogy in German.
Former Chancellor Angela Merkel sat next to the former presidents in the Bundestag
Merkel took a seat in the official gallery in her old place of work in the Bundestag next to the former Federal Presidents Joachim Gauck (83), Christian Wulff (64) and Horst Köhler (80). Football star Günter Netzer (79) and SPD legend Franz Müntefering (84) also paid their last respects to Wolfgang Schäuble in Berlin.
Wolfgang Schäuble died on December 26, 2023 in his adopted home of Offenburg at the age of 81 after years of cancer. On January 5, 2024, Schäuble was buried in the Waldbach cemetery there after a funeral service in the Offenburg Evangelical City Church. CDU leader Friedrich Merz also gave a moving speech there and fought back tears several times.
Source: Stern
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