Wolfgang Schäuble

Wolfgang Schäuble on moving the capital to Berlin, June 20, 1991 After reunification the Bundestag had to decide whether parliament and government would stay in Bonn or move to Berlin, on cross-party motions rather than party lines. A survey of members four days before the vote put Bonn well ahead. Schäuble, the interior minister who had negotiated the unification treaty, made an urgent, passionate appeal to his colleagues to take the step. Berlin won by 338 votes to 320. Many who were there credit his speech with a decisive influence on the result, and press reports said the mood turned after it; the votes of eastern German members also tipped the balance.