The uncompromising memoirs of a German political heavyweight

LETTER FROM BERLIN

For fans of German politics, 2024 will be a newsworthy year, with the publication of the memoirs of two major figures from recent decades: Angela Merkel and Wolfgang Schäuble. Merkel’s book will not be published until the autumn. However, Schäuble’s memoirs have just been published under the title Erinnerungen: Mein Leben in der Politik (“Memories: My Life in Politics”, Klett-Cotta, 656 pages, €38).

Schäuble, who died on December 26, 2023 at the age of 81, had an exceptional career. It took a long time: he was first elected as an MP in 1972 and served in the Bundestag for 51 years, breaking records. He held important ministerial positions at critical moments, serving as Minister of the Interior during German reunification and Minister of Finance during the Eurozone crisis.

And Schäuble’s professional fortunes were also notable for a missed opportunity: after spending half a century in the heart of power, Schäuble, who led the two chancellors Helmut Kohl (1982-1998) and Angela Merkel (2005-2021) served, never became chancellor himself. . He was burdened by the unwieldy legacy of Kohl, whom he had dreamed would succeed him, and overshadowed by the skills of Merkel, who forever thwarted his ambitions.

Even before the book’s release on Monday, April 8, a passage was revealed by the weekly magazine three days earlier strict made headlines in the German media. The passage referred to an event that took place in the fall of 2015. As hundreds of migrants fled the war-torn Middle East and entered Europe, Merkel decided not to close Germany’s borders to them. Within the majority party, the decision provoked strong opposition, especially from the very conservative Bavarian Christian Social Union (CSU). Schäuble writes that he was approached at the time by Edmund Stoiber, ex-chairman of the CSU, with a specific goal in mind: ‘He wanted to get me to overthrow Merkel so that I could become chancellor myself. (…) I categorically refused.”

In one of his last TV interviews, in 2022, Schäuble admitted that “some people wanted Merkel to leave” in 2015. But he said no more. The fact that he would announce Stoiber’s name is not without emotion. In January 2002, Merkel, who had been head of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) for less than two years, had announced during breakfast at the Bavarians’ home that she would nominate him for chancellor on behalf of both parties. Seven months later, Stoiber lost to social democrat Gerhard Schröder, who was re-elected for a second term. With the powerful CSU leader defeated, his young CDU counterpart now had a free hand to run for office next time – which she did, winning in 2005 the post she gave up three years earlier. That Stoiber would unleash a coup to depose Merkel more than a decade later speaks volumes about how resentment persists in politics.

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