In June 2017, former German chancellor Helmut Kohl passed away. He was the leader of the country for 16 years. It was under his leadership that Germany was unified after the end of the Cold War.
Early years and family politics
Helmut Kohl's biography begins on April 3, 1930, in the small German town of Ludwigshafen. Now this settlement is called Ludwigshafen am Rhein, it is an important industrial and economic center of Rhineland-Palatinate.
He was the third child in a humble family of Bavarian tax worker Hans Kohl and his wife Cecilia (née Shnur). The parents of the future politician Helmut Kohl were opponents of National Socialism in Germany and adhered to conservative views. They were Catholics, and their faith was at the forefront of the family's life.
In his early youth, Helmut tried many jobs: he tried to raise rabbits to sell meat and fur, breed silkworms, helped construction workers, was a loader and even a truck driver.
During World War II
When the war started, my father and older brother went to the front. Helmut's older brother died during one of the battles inyoung age. He was only 18 years old. Father managed to return home after the war.
Like many peers, Helmut Kohl then joined the children's organization Deutsches Jungvolk. As a twelve-year-old boy, he helped clean up the rubble (the city was bombed due to chemical plants), pulled out the charred bodies of his neighbors.
Later, the future statesman was mobilized in the air defense. In December 1944, at the age of only 14, he was sent to a special training camp. Soon the war ended, so fourteen-year-old Helmut, fortunately, did not have to take part in hostilities.
The political views of Helmut Kohl (briefly, later knowledge was expanded and systematized) were formed precisely in Ludwigshafen during the Second World War.
Education of Helmut Kohl
After the war, the future politician worked for some time in an ordinary barnyard, but already in 1946 he returned to school again. I needed to continue my education. Then the young Helmut joined the Christian Democratic Party. Almost thirty years later, the German statesman Helmut Kohl will lead it. He will retain this post until 1998.
At twenty years old, young Helmut Kohl entered the law faculty of the University of Frankfurt. Just a year later, he moved to another educational institution. Helmut Kohl continued his studies (only now he studied history and socio-political sciences) at one of the oldest and most prestigious universities in Germany - Heidelberg,named after Ruprecht and Karl.
After graduation, he worked as a research assistant at the University of Heidelberg. At the age of twenty-eight, the scientific activity of Helmut Kohl was replenished with an important achievement. He defended his Ph. D. thesis and received the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. The theme of the work of the future politician was the revival of parties in Germany after 1945.
Almost immediately after this, the young scientist was invited to work at a foundry in his hometown. He was offered the position of Assistant Director. He occupied the position for a short time, after which he became a referent in the Union of the Chemical Industry.
The beginning of a political career
The future politician joined the CDU (Christian Democratic Union) at school, and after the end of the war he also became a co-founder of the Youth Union in his native city. The "Union" is a youth organization under the CDU bloc, which is by far the largest youth political organization in Germany and Europe.
Kohl continued his political activities while studying at the university. For example, in the description of Helmut Kohl there are the following lines:
- CDU board member in Rhineland-Palatinate;
- deputy chairman of the youth branch of the KhSD;
- chairman of the district branch of the CDU in the city of Ludwigshafgen;
- head of the faction in the city council;
- Chairman of the faction in the Rhineland-Palatinate Parliament;
- chairman of the CDU branch inRhineland-Palatinate;
- member of the federal branch of the CDU;
- Deputy Chairman of the CDU.
The politician made his party career on his own, he did not have any influential patrons. The growth of Helmut Kohl in the service was quite fast. He formed his own team, which was based on his colleagues in the youth organization.
Working as Prime Minister
In 1969, Kohl became the youngest head of government. The internal policy of Helmut Kohl in this post was aimed at establishing partnerships between his native land and French Burgundy. This was also the reason for the improvement of relations between Germany and France.
As Prime Minister, Kohl carried out a local reform in the administration, established the University of Trier (now the Technical University of Kaiserslautern). Under his patronage, Rhineland-Palatinate became one of the most developed scientific and industrial regions in Germany. The politician headed the state government until 1976.
Failed elections and opposition
In the elections to the Bundestag in 1976, Kohl was first nominated for the role of Chancellor. The CDU bloc received more than 38% of the votes - for them it was an excellent result. But still, the political party, from which Helmut Kohl was nominated, lost the elections, and the social liberals came to power.
After unsuccessful elections, Kohl was able to maintain unity in the party, agreeing to the candidacy of Franz Josef Strauss in the next elections to the Bundestag. After another defeat, Strauss returned toBavaria, and Kohl continued to lead the opposition. As chairman of the CDU, he adopted a new program, where he pointed out the need to comply with agreements with the socialist states. He was a member of the Bundestag from 1976 to 2002.
German Federal Chancellor
In 1982, Kohl became Chancellor. Even a brief biography of Helmut Kohl does not miss this fact. He got the position because of the distrust of the previous government on the part of the people, the growing problems in economic and social policy. It was necessary to change something. They replaced the federal chancellor. At that time, Kohl became the youngest chancellor in Germany (52 years old).
In domestic policy, the chancellor developed microelectronics and biotechnology, tightened control over the budget and distribution of funds, and limited government intervention in the German economy. Under Helmut Kohl, inflation declined, for several years the figure was at a level of about 1.5%. Then (1986) Germany took the leading position in the world in terms of exports and imports. But decisions were made that did not gain popularity. For example, cuts in social support spending and tougher laws on strikes were not well received by the people.
Kohl repeatedly spoke about the inevitability of the unification of Germany, but did not believe that it was he who would witness this historic event. But the situation changed in the late eighties. Then mass protests began in the GDR, and Helmut Kohl presented his "10 points" - a planunification of Germany. The unification of the country happened earlier than Kohl planned, and he himself entered the history of the world and the history of Germany as the "Chancellor of Unity".
The main directions of Helmut Kohl's foreign policy included the establishment of good neighborly relations with the FRG, the USSR and other socialist states. The chancellor met with Mikhail Gorbachev and Boris Yeltsin on numerous occasions.
In 1998, the politician had to leave his post. Then the Social Democratic Party won the election.
Illegal financing of the CDU
When Kohl left the post of chancellor, he was elected honorary chairman of the CDU. Already next year, a scandal erupted, which was associated with the discovery of bank accounts into which money was transferred for the needs of the political bloc. Kohl took full responsibility for the funds. He publicly stated that these are not bribes, but money that is intended to support party officials in the field. He did not name the sponsors, so in 2000 he resigned as chairman of the bloc. The case was closed in 2001.
Memoirs of a German politician
Five years after ending his career in politics, Kohl wrote his memoirs. In total, four parts of the autobiography were planned. The first was dedicated to the memory of his first wife, the second covered the period of being in power, the third ended in 1994. As for the fourth part of the memoirs, it was supposed to cover the remaining period of the politician's life. But Helmut Kohl died in 2017, and no information onabout this part never appeared.
Scandalous statements
The former chancellor dictated his memoirs to a journalist, but he decided to publish his memoirs without the permission of the politician. A real scandal erupted, because the politician during the conversations was very frank, gave impartial characteristics to his contemporaries. Kohl himself indicated what should be sent to print, and what - in the desk drawer. But the journalist made copies from which he blinded his book. Kol tried to ban the publication, but the court recognized the copy as the property of the journalist.
Former chancellor's private life
At the age of thirty, the politician married the translator Hannelore Renner. In this marriage, two sons were born. Helmut Kohl's wife, who suffered from a severe allergic reaction to daylight, committed suicide in 2001.
As the first lady, Kolya's wife behaved appropriately, she was restrained and correct, she was in the shadow of her husband, refusing to give any comments about politics. Hannelore made a significant contribution to charity, took part in several television programs, participated in variety shows.
The first lady was able to fence off her children from the press and fame associated with the position of the father. They served in the army, studied in the USA. W alter got married, settled in Frankfurt, Peter married the daughter of an entrepreneur from Turkey, lives in London. W alter Kohl then repeatedly said that his father did not devote time to his family at all, he was constantly engaged only in work.
Second wife - Mike Richter, economist. Kohl entered into a marriage with her in 2008, when he was being treated after a brain injury resulting from a fall. Maike Richter is also a journalist and is employed by the German Ministry of Economy.
