Wolfgang Schaeuble, veteran of German politics, dies at 81

Veteran German politician Wolfgang Schaeuble, who served as a member of the Bundestag parliament for over half a century, has died aged 81, German media reported on Wednesday.

Schaeuble, who spent much of his career devoted to re-unifying his country and later served as former chancellor Angela Merkel’s frugal finance minister during the eurozone debt crisis, died peacefully late Tuesday, the DPA news agency reported.

Schaeuble was a member of Merkel’s centre-right Christian Democrats since 1965 and became a member of parliament in 1972, making him one of Germany’s longest-serving politicians.

He was wheelchair-bound from 1990, when a deranged gunman’s bullets crippled and almost killed him.