Wolfgang Schäuble was the best chancellor Germany never had, according to a meme beloved of his supporters, while his detractors saw him as the grim enforcer of austerity policies that inflicted lasting damage on Germany and the EU.

Schäuble, who was born on 18 September, 1942, and died on 26 December evening at the age of 81, devoted his entire life to politics. The longest-serving legislator in German parliamentary history, the trained lawyer was first elected to the Bundestag, parliament’s lower chamber, in 1972 and retained his seat until his death.