Early last week Hans Eichel was a loser. Following the defeat of his Social Democrat-led government in state elections in Hesse last month, the outgoing leader of Germany's most prosperous state was clearing his desk before handing over keys of office next month.

By the weekend the loser of Hesse was poised to take charge of the finances of Europe's biggest economy. Mr Eichel (57) was the surprise choice to succeed Oskar Lafontaine following the latter's sudden decision to resign as finance minister and withdraw from political life.

The dramatic change in Mr Eichel's fortunes is unusual in German politics, which tends to be conducted at a predictable, almost plodding, pace. For Mr Eichel, the lurch from provincial obscurity to the second most important position must have been beyond his wildest dreams.

So what qualities was Gerhard Schroder, the chancellor, looking for in the successor to the man dubbed by one British newspaper "the most dangerous man in Europe"?

The German press has described Mr Eichel as having "all the charisma of a damp noodle", and that, after the fiery Mr Lafontaine, may have been just what the chancellor ordered.

Mr Eichel may be bland, but he is also an expert on German tax and, according to one of his colleagues, "a detail-obsessed file eater" - talents he will no doubt put to good use at the finance ministry, especially now that tax reform is at the heart of German economic debate.

Fellow social democrats describe Mr Eichel as diligent, competent, and somewhat colourless, but also as someone who is a "consensus builder" - another quality which 00might come as a relief after the divisive Mr Lafontaine.

After a brief stint as a teacher, Mr Eichel worked his way up the local party organisation. During the Hesse election campaign, Mr Schroder conceded, with masterly understatement, that Mr Eichel did "not dance like Fred Astaire or sing like Caruso". Instead, he praised Mr Eichel for his "uncommonly competent, precise and honest political work".

In the wake of the stormy, brilliant, arrogant and sometimes chaotic Mr Lafontaine, the chancellor was obviously looking forward to a quieter life with his new finance minister.

Mr Eichel has more attractions than just being the calm after the storm. For one thing, he brings useful experience of working with the Greens, the junior partners in Mr Schroder's sometimes fractious coalition government. Mr Eichel was the first SPD politician to invite the Greens to share office when he put together a coalition to run the Kassel city council in 1981 - 10 years later he turned again to the Greens to form a government in Hesse.

For another, Mr Eichel, like Mr Schroder, favours a pragmatic approach to politics. In Hesse, which he headed since 1991, Mr Eichel was sympathetic to the needs of business. "Mr Eichel knows the importance of German companies remaining competitive internationally," says Frank Niethammer, head of the Hessian Industry and Trade Association. This marks a contrast to Mr Eichel's predecessor, whose economic policies incurred the wrath of many industrialists and provoked them into the threat of an unprecedented tax revolt, when they said they would take their companies outside Germany unless he changed his proposals to increase the tax burden on wealthy individuals and large companies.

Yet Mr Eichel was considered close to Mr Lafontaine. In the early 1980s, the two men belonged to the left wing of the SPD. Mr Eichel was even dubbed "the Lafontaine of Kassel", the north Hessian town where he was born and was eventually elected mayor.

It was Mr Eichel who did the back-room number-crunching that allowed Mr Lafontaine, when leader of the opposition party, to block tax reforms in the previous centre-right government of Helmut Kohl. Mr Eichel's mastery of detail proved a formidable asset when he was finance policy co-ordinator of the SPD-led states in the Bundesrat, the upper house of parliament.

It is not yet known whether Mr Eichel will seek to steer a completely new course at the finance ministry. Mr Schroder has said the emphasis of government policy would remain on "social justice and innovation" and that there would be no immediate changes to Mr Lafontaine's tax reform bill, which proposes to close many lucrative tax loopholes benefiting industry. Similarly, the chancellor said there are no plans to dismantle the "super finance ministry" that Mr Lafontaine controversially created by grabbing three parts of the economics ministry (on structural policy, forecasting and Europe).

But it is clear that Mr Eichel's role within Mr Schroder's government will be markedly different from that of his predecessor. Mr Lafontaine took over the finance ministry as reward for his successful management of the SPD election campaign and for his decision a year ago to stand aside and let Mr Schroder run against Helmut Kohl for the chancellorship. As SPD chairman, Mr Lafontaine also had a second power base in the party.

Mr Eichel possesses neither of these assets. He will be a direct appointee of Mr Schroder, and will be answerable to him. Meanwhile, Mr Schroder is expected to strengthen his grip on the SPD by making a bid for the party chairmanship at an extraordinary conference next month.

Mr Eichel will only formally take charge of the ministry when he officially stands down in Hesse next month. Until then the finance ministry will be run on an interim basis by Mr Werner Muller, the economics minister.

The departure of Mr Lafontaine has removed Mr Schroder's only credible internal rival. This will give the chancellor a freer hand to pursue his consensus-building approach to politics. Mr Schroder has said he would like to cut Germany's top rate of corporation tax (which can be 60 per cent or more). Whether he will now implement that goal remains to be seen. But with Mr Lafontaine gone, finance policy is likely to be determined more in the chancellery than in the ministry's drab utilitarian offices in Bonn.

The result is likely to produce few of the fireworks which so distinguished the brief period in office of Mr Eichel's predecessor. Judged by his record to date, Mr Eichel seems to prefer a solid, even a bland approach. More importantly, Mr Schroder wants that too.

All of which is no doubt desirable after the excitements of Mr Lafontaine. But one doubt must be entered. In 1983, France brought in a new finance minister to oversee a change of policy after opposition had brought its Keynesian plans to a halt. That minister was Jacques Delors. The doubt is whether Mr Eichel will prove as effective as his former French counterpart.