Helmut Kohl
Helmut Josef Michael Kohl (German pronunciation: [ˈhɛlmuːt ˈkoːl] ⓘ; 3 April 1930 – 16 June 2017) was a German politician who served as Chancellor of Germany from 1982 to 1998[a] and Leader of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) from 1973 to 1998. Kohl's 16-year tenure is the longest of any German chancellor since Otto von Bismarck, and oversaw the end of the Cold War, the German reunification and the creation of the European Union (EU). Furthermore, Kohl's tenure of 16 years, 26 days is the longest for any democratically elected chancellor of Germany.
For the Austrian football referee, see Helmut Kohl (referee).
Helmut Kohl
Helmut Schmidt
Karl Carstens
Karl Carstens
Multi-member district
Multi-member district
Multi-member district
Christian Democratic Union
Multi-member district
Multi-member district
Christian Democratic Union
Multi-member district
Hans-Dieter Busch (1977)
- Wahlkreis 6 (1959–1971)
- Wahlkreis 5 (1971–1975)
- Wahlkreis 3 (1975–1976)
16 June 2017 (aged 87)
Ludwigshafen, Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany
Cathedral Chapter Cemetery, Speyer
Christian Democratic Union
(1946–2017)
- Politician
- historian
- executive
Born in Ludwigshafen to a Catholic family, Kohl joined the CDU in 1946 at the age of 16. He earned a PhD in history at Heidelberg University in 1958, and worked as a business executive before becoming a full-time politician. He was elected as the youngest member of the Parliament of Rhineland-Palatinate in 1959 and from 1969 to 1976 was minister president of the Rhineland-Palatinate state. Viewed during the 1960s and the early 1970s as a progressive within the CDU, he was elected national chairman of the party in 1973. After he had become party leader, Kohl was increasingly seen as a more conservative figure. In the 1976 and 1980 federal elections his party performed well, but the social-liberal government of social democrat Helmut Schmidt was able to remain in power. After Schmidt had lost the support of the liberal FDP in 1982, Kohl was elected Chancellor through a constructive vote of no confidence, forming a coalition government with the FDP. Kohl chaired the G7 in 1985 and 1992.
As Chancellor, Kohl was committed to European integration and especially to the Franco-German relationship; he was also a steadfast ally of the United States and supported Ronald Reagan's more aggressive policies to weaken the Soviet Union. Following the Revolutions of 1989, his government acted decisively, culminating in the German reunification in 1990. Kohl and French president François Mitterrand were the architects of the Maastricht Treaty which established the EU and the Euro currency.[1] Kohl was also a central figure in the eastern enlargement of the EU, and his government led the effort to push for international recognition of Croatia, Slovenia, and Bosnia and Herzegovina when the states declared independence. He played an instrumental role in resolving the Bosnian War. Domestically Kohl's policies from 1990 focused on integrating former East Germany into reunified Germany, and he moved the federal capital from the "provisional capital" Bonn back to Berlin, although he never resided there because the government offices were only relocated in 1999. Kohl also greatly increased federal spending on arts and culture. After his chancellorship, Kohl became honorary chairman of the CDU in 1998 but resigned from the position in 2000 in the wake of the CDU donations scandal which damaged his reputation domestically.
Kohl received the 1988 Charlemagne Prize and was named Honorary Citizen of Europe by the European Council in 1998. Following his death, Kohl was honoured with the first-ever European act of state in Strasbourg.[2] Kohl was described as "the greatest European leader of the second half of the 20th century" by US presidents George H. W. Bush[3] and Bill Clinton.[4]
Life[edit]
Youth and education[edit]
Kohl was born on 3 April 1930 in Ludwigshafen. He was the third child of Hans Kohl (3 January 1887 – 20 October 1975),[5] a Bavarian army veteran and civil servant, and his wife, Cäcilie (née Schnur; 17 November 1891 – 2 August 1979).[6][7]
Kohl's family was conservative and Catholic, and remained loyal to the Catholic Centre Party before and after 1933. His elder brother died in World War II as a teenage soldier. At the age of ten, Kohl was obliged, like most children in Germany at the time, to join the Deutsches Jungvolk, a section of the Hitler Youth. Aged 15, on 20 April 1945, Kohl was sworn into the Hitler Youth by leader Artur Axmann at Berchtesgaden, just days before the end of the war, as membership was mandatory for all boys of his age. Kohl was also drafted for military service in 1945; he was not involved in any combat, a fact he later referred to as the "mercy of late birth" (German: Gnade der späten Geburt).[8]
Kohl attended the Ruprecht Elementary School, and continued at the Max-Planck-Gymnasium.[9] After graduating in 1950, Kohl began to study law in Frankfurt am Main, spending two semesters commuting between Ludwigshafen and Frankfurt.[10] Here, Kohl heard lectures from Carlo Schmid and Walter Hallstein, among others.[11] In 1951, Kohl switched to Heidelberg University, where he studied history and political science. Kohl was the first in his family to attend university.[12]
Life before politics[edit]
After graduating in 1956, Kohl became a fellow at the Alfred Weber Institute of Heidelberg University under Dolf Sternberger[13] where he was an active member of the student society AIESEC.[14] In 1958, Kohl received his doctorate degree in history for his dissertation Die politische Entwicklung in der Pfalz und das Wiedererstehen der Parteien nach 1945 ("The Political Developments in the Palatinate and the Reconstruction of Political Parties after 1945"), under the supervision of the historian Walther Peter Fuchs.[15] After that, Kohl entered business, first as an assistant to the director of a foundry in Ludwigshafen,[16] then, in April 1960, as a manager for the Industrial Union for Chemistry in Ludwigshafen.[16]
Political views[edit]
Kohl was committed to European integration, maintaining close relations with French president François Mitterrand. Parallel to this, he was committed to German reunification. Although he continued the Ostpolitik of his social-democratic predecessors, Kohl supported Reagan's more aggressive policies to weaken the Soviet Union.[110] He had a strained relationship with British prime minister and fellow conservative Margaret Thatcher,[111][112] although Kohl did allow her secret access to his plans on reunification in March 1990,[113] to allay the concerns she shared with Mitterrand.[114]
