Farewell to an exceptional politician, long-time MP and the architect of German unity: Top politicians and relatives will pay tribute to the late CDU politician Wolfgang Schäuble at a funeral service on Friday morning in Offenburg, Baden, and bury him. Announced speakers include Baden-Württemberg’s Prime Minister Winfried Kretschmann (Greens) and CDU federal chairman Friedrich Merz. Former Chancellor Angela Merkel (CDU) will not appear. as her office confirmed to various media. However, she will take part in the state ceremony for Schäuble, which is planned for January 22nd in Berlin.
The service in the Protestant town church of Offenburg, which is also broadcast to the public, begins at eleven o’clock. It is led by the regional bishop of Baden, Heike Springhart. CDU state leader Manuel Hagel, Mayor Marco Steffens (CDU) and Schäuble’s daughter, ARD program director Christine Strobl will also speak, as the city reported. Afterwards there is a large military parade of honor in which soldiers carry the coffin out of the church. After a funeral procession, the body is buried in the Waldbach cemetery.
Schäuble died on Boxing Day at the age of 81 after a long, serious illness. Political Berlin will say goodbye to Schäuble on January 22nd. On this day, the Bundestag will host the state mourning ceremony ordered by Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier in the plenary hall of the Reichstag building. The leaders of the German state – especially Steinmeier – and hundreds of guests from home and abroad are expected. French President Emmanuel Macron also wants to attend the state mourning ceremony.
Schäuble was born on September 18, 1942 in Freiburg im Breisgau. The qualified lawyer was drawn to politics at an early age. In 1965 he joined the CDU. In the decades that followed, he shaped German politics in numerous high-ranking positions. During his political career, the Baden native was several times a minister, CDU leader, parliamentary group leader and President of the German Bundestag. No one served in Parliament longer than him, from 1972 until his death. Each time he won the direct mandate in his constituency of Offenburg. Schäuble’s work has recently been recognized across party lines. Steinmeier called Schäuble a “stroke of luck for German history” and Merkel her “political teacher.”