RIP Helmut Kohl - German Chancellor 1982-1998

[Zanza]

Obituary
Helmut Kohl earned his place in history by securing the successful reunification of Germany after the collapse of communism.
His 16 years in office made him the longest-serving German chancellor since Bismarck and he was once described as the greatest European leader in the second half of the 20th Century.
He was a passionate supporter of greater European integration and was one of the main architects of the Maastricht Treaty.
Yet the end of his career was marred by economic problems in the old East Germany and a financial scandal within his own CDU party.
Helmut Josef Michael Kohl was born on 3 April 1930 into a conservative, Catholic family,
His political outlook was shaped by his experiences in his hometown of Ludwigshafen in the Rhineland during World War Two.
Because of its huge chemical works, the town was heavily bombed and, at the age of 12, the young Helmut found himself helping to recover the charred bodies of his neighbours from the rubble. What he once described as "the blessing of a late birth" freed him from any taints of Nazism.
After studying politics and law at Heidelberg University, Kohl entered politics in the German federal system where, in the Rhineland Palatinate, he rose to become the youngest Land [federal state] minister-president at the age of 39.
He built up a large network of political allies and forced through important changes, among them the law that outlawed denominational schools unless 80% of the parents approved.
Three years later, Kohl became national chairman of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU), the dominant post-war West German political party.
He was the CDU's candidate for chancellor in the 1976 election, but was defeated by the Social Democrat/Free Democrat coalition of Helmut Schmidt.

Golden age
Four years later, Kohl looked on as another CDU candidate, and great rival, the Bavarian Prime Minister Franz Josef Strauss, also went down to defeat by Schmidt.
A bear of a man, Kohl was often ridiculed for his love of food - one nickname being "Birne" or pear - and for his often clumsy provincial manner. Beyond this, Kohl's critics relentlessly mocked him for what they said was his lacklustre oratory and apparent lack of vision.
But many underestimated his ability to wield power, which he managed through a complex, but highly effective, network of patronage and political cronies.
In 1982, after the Free Democrats had left the ruling coalition, he took over as chancellor from Helmut Schmidt, and would go on to win the next four general elections, staying in power for 16 years.
The 1980s witnessed a golden age of German economic and political power. Together with his closest ally, France's President Mitterrand, Kohl shaped the federal ideal of the European Union and laid the groundwork for the creation of the single currency.
In 1987 there was a groundbreaking visit to West Germany by the East German leader, Erich Honecker. It was part of Kohl's policy of detente with the East, something his party had firmly rejected just 20 years before.
Two years later, the Berlin Wall came down and Kohl began the negotiations that would lead to reunification.

Economic dislocation
Having realised that Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev's attempts to reform communism would fail, Kohl persuaded him to withdraw from East Germany, while allowing a reunited Germany to remain a member of Nato.
The 350,000 Soviet troops based in the East were sent home, the costs borne by the West German government. On 3 October 1990, East Germany ceased to exist with its five historical states becoming part of the new federal republic.
Kohl's drive for reunification was not welcomed by everyone, with Israel's Prime Minister Yitzhak Shamir publicly opposing it. While broadly welcomed by the West, there were concerns, notably in Britain and Poland, that a strong unified Germany would come to dominate the continent.
But Kohl was able to convince Gorbachev and US President George HW Bush that a united Germany would not destabilise or threaten Europe in the way Hitler's Germany had done.
"George Bush was for me the most important ally on the road to German unity," he said.
Kohl also made the political decision to grant East Germans immediate economic parity, even though his central bankers told him of the massive economic dislocation this would incur. They predicted correctly that Germany's economy would be badly affected for a decade.
Even so, Helmut Kohl had pulled off a remarkable political coup that might not have occurred had he dithered. But the huge economic repercussions of reunification robbed him of some of the popularity he might have expected, particularly in the former East where, during one visit, he was pelted with eggs.
Under his rule, the East suffered an economic collapse, with high rates of poverty and unemployment the norm. And the costs of reunification led to an economic downturn throughout Germany.

Strained relationship
He was slow to respond when neo-Nazis burned down the homes of immigrant Turkish families and hostels for refugees from Africa. He sometimes pushed aside the concerns of smaller nations to the east, like the Czechs and the Poles.
And he had a strained relationship with the UK and other countries that did not share his vision of a federal Europe.
Chief among Kohl's perceived antagonists was Margaret Thatcher. In a revealing volume of autobiography, published in 2005, he alleged that her anger boiled over in December 1989 after she was obliged to sign a communique supporting German reunification.
"I will never forget Margaret Thatcher's angry observation: 'We have beaten the Germans twice. Now they're back.'"
After he lost power in elections in 1998, it was revealed that Kohl had accepted, for his party, millions of dollars of secret political donations.
Despite refusing to name the donors, and despite his destroying much potentially incriminating evidence before he left the chancellery, he was spared possible corruption charges out of respect for his years of leadership.
But his reputation was badly damaged. To his opponents, Helmut Kohl could be insensitive and a bully. The suicide of his wife, Hannelore, in July 2001, seemed to exemplify his political and personal eclipse.
In 2010, an ailing Helmut Kohl joined Chancellor Angela Merkel in celebrations to mark the 20th anniversary of German reunification, something that will be seen as his greatest achievement.
"I have been underestimated for decades," he once said. "I have done very well that way."

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-11477991

[Duque de Bragança]

Killed politically by Merkel long ago...

RIP

[The Brain]

He was a big man.

[Tamas]

RIP

Germans like to have long-serving Chancellors, don't they?

[Zanza]

Germans like to have long-serving Chancellors, don't they?

One could say: Strong and stable.

[derspiess]

RIP.  Always loved seeing him on the news.  Always seemed like he'd be a good guy to hang out and down a bunch of brats and liter steins of beer.

[Valmy]

RIP. A man who pulled off what seemed like an impossibility at the time,  now it is hard to remember the era of  two Germanys.

[alfred russel]

Zanza, I feel as though you've cherry picked the dates a bit - you started it just after a period of long tenure of the leader of Italy, beginning in about 1922. Though admittedly you had one of your own start in 1931.

[Zanza]

Only with Margaret Thatcher could he strike no chord. When she was holidaying in his favourite lakeside resort he cut short a meeting, pleading "unbreakable commitments". Walking down the street later, Britain's leader saw Mr Kohl in a café, busy only with a large cream cake. Their relationship never recovered.

[Valmy]

Sounds like an unbreakable commitment to me.

[Zanza]

Zanza, I feel as though you've cherry picked the dates a bit - you started it just after a period of long tenure of the leader of Italy, beginning in about 1922. Though admittedly you had one of your own start in 1931.

The image shows the heads of government of the current German and Italian republics since their foundation. But I only copied it from elsewhere so I didn't really decide on the content.

By the way, not sure who you refer to with 1931. Heinrich Brüning had already lost his chancellorship in mid-1932, so that's not very long-term. 

[CountDeMoney]

RIP. A man who pulled off what seemed like an impossibility at the time,  now it is hard to remember the era of  two Germanys.

one of those instances arguably where the right man was in the right place at the right time.  Unification could've been very different.

[DGuller]

Germans like to have long-serving Chancellors, don't they?

One could say: Strong and stable.

Germans sure seem to have figured out how to have a strong, stable, and effective democratic government, after the earlier unpleasantness.  Not sure there are better examples around.

[Syt]

http://www.dw.com/en/helmut-kohl-funeral-plans-nearly-derailed-after-widows-intervention/a-39361897

Helmut Kohl funeral plans nearly derailed after widow's intervention

Former Chancellor Helmut Kohl's funeral plans have become subject to controversy after his widow tried to bar Chancellor Angela Merkel from speaking at the memorial. She said, however, she was trying to honor his wishes.

Former Chancellor Helmut Kohl's political party, the Christian Democrats (CDU) narrowly escaped political embarrassment after his second wife, Maike Kohl-Richter, reportedly tried and failed to prevent his one-time protégé, Chancellor Angela Merkel from speaking at the statesman's memorial service, according to the German magazine Der Spiegel.

In addition to being Chancellor, Merkel is also the current leader of the CDU - two titles once also held by Kohl.

Instead of having a state funeral, Kohl will become the first person to be honored with a European memorial service on July 1.

The unique service will be held in recognition of his efforts to unite Europe, chiefly the feat of achieving the German reunification, as well as for his push for greater integration within the European Union.

Despite Kohl's widow's objection, Merkel was confirmed as speaking at the service as a speaker, along with European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker, French President Emmanuel Macron and former US president Bill Clinton.

The memorial in Strasbourgh is later to be followed by a funeral in the Catholic cathedral in Speyer, a city on the Rhine River and the burial site of historic European personalities, near Kohl's home of Ludwigshafen.

Fall from grace

Kohl had grown estranged from Merkel since retiring from politics in 2002. He never forgave her for effectively forcing him to quit politics after he had been implicated in an elaborate party financing scandal in 1999 involving anonymous donations, which are illegal under German law.

Although the affair never tarnished his legacy as the architect of German reunification, Kohl distanced himself in his final years from many of his erstwhile political allies on account of their campaign against him.

Known for holding on to grudges, Kohl reportedly rejected the idea of having Merkel speak at his funeral, according to his widow. He furthermore stated that he did not want to be given a state funeral.

While the idea of honoring him with a European funeral is seen to be in agreement with his wishes, Kohl's widow seemed to have only reluctantly agreed to have Chancellor Merkel speak at the memorial in Strasbourg after voicing her objection on the issue.

The Orban controversy

Kohl's widow Maike Kohl-Richter, who is 34 years his junior, said that instead of Merkel, Kohl had wanted to have Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban speak at the memorial. Orban had been mentored by Kohl in the early years after the 1989 collapse of East European Communism, espousing liberal ideas as a young politician at the time. Later they became lifelong friends.

However, as prime minister of Hungary Orban has been criticized for steering an authoritarian course in his country - one that is seen to be at odds with Kohl's legacy.

With his anti-EU stance and rejection of refugees coming to Europe, Orban will not be invited to hold a speech at the event.

There has been no comment on whether Orban will be attending the funeral. He did, however, send a letter to Kohl-Richter, in which he reportedly lauded Kohl's work as a "compass" to follow.

Family feud

Kohl-Richter has also reportedly clashed with his estranged son Walter, who said that he had been barred from visiting the couple's home earlier in the week to discuss funeral arrangements. The claim was later denied by her lawyer.

Walter Kohl said he only learnt of his father's death from the radio, having last spoken to him, by telephone, in 2011.

Kohl sons Walter and Peter are among a number of people who say that his second wife had isolated him. Kohl had married Maike Kohl-Richter in 2008 - seven years after his first wife Hannelore's suicide.

Bundestag speech

Meanwhile German Parliament President Norbert Lammert said during a eulogy at the Bundestag in Berlin that Kohl's "polarizing" character had served as the "personified confidence-building measure" people were looking for in 1989 as calls for reunification rang out in East Germany and West Germany.

Lammert added the former chancellor's death also marked a "deep severing" of Germany's present-day population from its past generations of leaders, such as Konrad Adenauer, Willy Brandt and Kohl.

Lammert also recounted Kohl's rhetorical abrasiveness, including hefty verbal exchanges with the late Social Democratic Party former Chancellor Helmut Schmidt, whom Kohl beat in 1982, and Kohl's emergence as a young parliamentarian in his Rhineland-Palatinate home state in the 1960s.

Current German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier, and former presidents Joachim Gauck and Horst Köhler, also attended the ceremony.