Erinnerungen

Helmut Josef Michael Kohl (3 April 1930 – 16 June 2017) was a German politician who served as chancellor of Germany and governed the Federal Republic from 1982 to 1998. He was leader of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) from 1973 to 1998 and oversaw the end of the Cold War, German reunification, and the creation of the European Union (EU). Kohl's 16-year tenure is the longest in German post-war history and is the longest for any democratically elected chancellor of Germany. 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.