Former Chancellor Helmut Kohl has died at age 87. Having led Germany for 16 years, he is remembered for reuniting the country as well as for making a huge political and economic contribution to the integration of Europe.
Helmut Kohl’s political party the Christian Democratic Union on Friday confirmed media reports that the former chancellor had died. “We mourn. #RIP #Helmut Kohl,” the brief message read.
Helmut Josef Michael Kohl was born in Ludwigshafen on April 3, 1930. He was only 17 when he joined the conservative Christian Democratic Union (CDU) and was active in the party during his studies in History, Law and Governance and Public Policy.
Kohl was elected premier of Rhineland-Palatinate in 1969. At just 39, he was the youngest person ever to hold the position. In 1976, the CDU and its Bavarian sister party, the Christian Social Union (CSU), choose him as their candidate for chancellor in the parliamentary elections. He won 48.6% of the vote, but that still was not enough to keep Helmut Schmidt’s Social Democrats (SPD) from staying in power in a coalition with the free-market liberal Free Democratic Party (FDP).
It was not until six years later, on October 1, 1982, that Kohl finally reached his goal. The leader of the opposition, which also had the largest number of seats in the German parliament, was voted in as chancellor. It was a vote of no confidence against the Social Democrat Chancellor Schmidt that brought Kohl to power, after he succeeded in convincing FDP leader Hans-Dietrich Genscher to break with Schmidt. Kohl formed his own alliance with the FDP and became the head of the government. In a controversial move a few months later he proposed another confidence vote to hold fresh elections, which he won.
Helmut Kohl will forever be remembered as the Chancellor who presided over German reunification in 1990 and as an influential proponent of European integration. Up to now he held the record as the longest-serving Chancellor. In July 2001, Kohl’s wife, Hannelore, committed suicide taking an overdose of sleeping pills. She had suffered from photodermatitis, a form of sun allergy. At the age of 78, Kohl married Maike Richter.
In May 2011, he was awarded the Henry Kissinger Prize for exceptional contributions to transatlantic relations. Former president Bill Clinton called him “the most important European statesman since the Second World War.” Shortly before his death, Kohl received yet another notable tribute when the Federal Republic of Germany issued a special stamp in his honor. It shows Kohl’s face, spread across 12 square centimeters and captioned “Chancellor of reunification — honorary citizen of Europe.”
Helmut Kohl may not be regarded as a perfect politician but he has secured his place among political pantheons as the chancellor of reunification and major promoter of a united Europe.
