Monday, 22 January 2024, Berlin, Federal Parliament, Germany: In the plenary hall of the Bundestag took place a homage to the deceased politician and federal speaker of federal parliament Wolfgang Schäuble (1942-2023) who passed on 26 December 2023 at the age of 81 in his native state of Baden-Württemberg, southern Germany.
The homage was attended by German Federal President Dr. Frank-Walter Steinmeier and his spouse Elke Büdenbender, the Federal Chancellor Olaf Scholz, the President pro tempore of the Federal Council (Bundesrat) Manuela Schwesig (Premier of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania), the President of the Constitutional Court Prof. Dr. Stephan Harbarth as well as the French President Emmanuel Macron accompanied by the French Ambassador in Germany, François Delattre.
The eulogy transpired on the 61st anniversary of the signing of the Élysée Treaty as well as the fifth anniversary for the Treaty of Aachen, both landmarks of Franco-German friendship and cooperation.
Macron impressed and surprised mourners in the German parliament by delivering a encomium for Wolfgang Schäuble predominantly in the German language. President Macron’s panegyric was the first allocution by a French head of state since Charles de Gaulle addressed an audience in that language back in 1962 in Ludwigsburg.
For further information
German Federal Presidency:
French Presidency:
https://www.elysee.fr/emmanuel-macron/2024/01/22/hommage-a-wolfgang-schauble
