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Helmut Kohl
Image: dpa/picture allianceImage: dpa/picture alliance

Helmut Kohl

Helmut Kohl (1930-2017) served as Chancellor of Germany from 1982 to 1998 and as the chairman of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) from 1973 to 1998.

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All Content on this topic

Horst Teltschik, foreign policy advisor to Helmut Kohl

A reunified Germany

After the wall fell, Gorbachev invited Kohl to the Caucasus, where they finalized reunification.
September 30, 2010
Street in a town of the former GDR

Reunification: Trillion euro bet

German reunification has consumed billions of taxpayers' euros and the tab is still running.
BusinessSeptember 24, 2010
Christoph Schlingensief

Director dies

Contemporary theater and opera director Christoph Schlingensief has died from cancer at 49.
August 21, 2010
The People's Chamber

First and last

On April 5, 1990, the first 400 freely elected East German parliamentarians began their work.
April 4, 2010
Helmut Kohl with wife Hannelore

Kohl turns 80

Helmut Kohl, architect of German reunification and driving force behind EU integration, turns 80.
April 3, 2010
Former arms dealer Karlheinz Schreiber

Bribery trial

Former arms dealer Karlheinz Schreiber reveals details of illegal bribes paid in the 1990s.
January 20, 2010
Karlheinz Schreiber being led away by police

Schreiber affair

Arms dealer Karlheinz Schreiber made a number of illicit donations to Chancellor Helmut Kohl's party
January 18, 2010
Riesling grapes on the Mosel

Roots and vines

Rhineland-Palatinate is a state of vineyards, industrial areas, castles and historic cities.
November 18, 2009
A small piece of the Berlin Wall at Potsdamer Platz in Berlin

Wall History

The collapse of the Berlin Wall and the East German government began with one press conference.
November 8, 2009
Margaret Thatcher

Germanophobia

The uncomfortable truth about the European-wide hostility to German reunification has reemerged.
November 8, 2009
Bundestag in session

'Overhang' election

Merkel says she's prepared to take advantage of an anomaly in the German electoral process.
September 22, 2009
Karlheinz Schreiber

Kohl-era scandal

German-Canadian arms dealer Karlheinz Schreiber has been extradited to Germany.
August 3, 2009
Former German Chancellor Helmut Kohl

Kohl leaves Kohl Foundation

Kohl resigns from late wife's foundation over row with management and asks for a name change.
July 1, 2009
Banners for SPD, FDP and Greens together, symbolizing a coalition

Colorful Coalitions

From black to red to green to yellow, German party politics represents a rainbow of ideologies.
February 11, 2009
Aerial view of Bitterfeld

Blooming in the sun

Twenty years after the fall of the Berlin Wall, Bitterfeld's polluted past is a distant memory.
January 7, 2009
Kohl and Richter

Ex-Chancellor Helmut Kohl Remarries

Former German Chancellor Helmut Kohl, 78, has married his companion, Maike Richter, 44.
May 13, 2008
Maike Richter and Helmut Kohl

Wedding Bells

Former German Chancellor Helmut Kohl plans to marry his partner Maike Richter, German media said.
April 15, 2008

Bonn's Bungalow

The modest chancellor's bungalow in the former capital of Bonn is undergoing a restoration.
July 8, 2007

Germany's Not So New Interior Minister

Wolfgang Schäuble, has been tapped to be Germany's new interior minister, replacing Otto Schily. A controversial figure, Schäuble returns to the position which he held under former Chancellor Helmut Kohl.
October 18, 2005

Green Godfather Leaves Leadership

Green party patriarch Joschka Fischer shocked both supporters and opponents Tuesday with the news that he would not continue leading the Green party should the party be sitting in the opposition in the next Bundestag.
September 21, 2005

Postwar German Coalition Governments

As part of 2005 election coverage DW-WORLD has put together a short history of previous goverments that have sat at the head of the German Bundestag.
September 18, 2005

(No) Confidence Vote: the 1983 Prequel

The German constitutional court already examined the legitimacy of a parliamentary vote of confidence in 1983. DW-WORLD looks back to that court ruling and the implications it may have today.
July 22, 2005

Helmut Kohl to Testify in Corruption Case

July 5, 2005

Politically Charged Trial Takes Sudden Twist

A the start of his trial on separate tax evasion and corruption charges over an arms deal with Saudi Arabia, former German Junior Defense Minister Ludwig-Holger Pfahls admitted in court Tuesday to accepting bribes.
June 28, 2005

Kohl Met Bush

May 27, 2005

Schröder Pins Hopes on Vote of Confidence

If Germany is to go to the polls this autumn, Chancellor Schröder will have to set in motion a complex constitutional mechanism for bringing the elections forward.
May 23, 2005

Former Chancellor Kohl Evacuated from Sri Lanka

December 29, 2004

Ex-Defense Secretary Accepts Extradition

November 19, 2004

Working More to Keep Germany's Holidays

The raging debate in Germany over public holidays in recent weeks recalled similar dispute almost a decade ago. The difference? Germans are serious about working more.
November 17, 2004

Germany's Fifteen-Year Hangover

As Germany marked the 15th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall, the country's politicians took stock of the state of the nation -- and concluded that East-West discrepancies are still cleaving the country.
November 10, 2004

CDU to Pay Fine for Slush Fund Scandal

September 16, 2004

Ex-Minister Rexrodt Dies of Cancer

August 19, 2004

Kohl Still Owes Taxes, Expert Says

August 18, 2004

Kohl Thinks Memoirs Will Set Record Straight

March 5, 2004

Former German Leader Says Non-EU countries Could Join Euro

In a rare interview with the German daily Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, the former German Chancellor Helmut Kohl said that countries not in the EU could join the euro zone.
January 22, 2004

Auf Wiedersehen in the Fatherland

Every year, thousands of repatriates emigrate from eastern Europe and Russia to the land of their ancestors, Germany. Their difficult integration has bounced back to politicians' awareness in the election run up.
September 22, 2002

Prison for Illegal German Donors

The German Parliament has approved legislation to make political party funding more transparent after a string of embarrassing kickback scandals. But critics say the law doesn’t go far enough.
April 20, 2002

The Kohl Files

A German court decided to keep a lid on ex-Chancellor Helmut Kohl’s secret service files. Much to the dismay of many who were hoping to find out who was responsible for their torment during the Stasi years.
March 8, 2002

Unseating Germany's Media Chancellor

In an effort to move under Chancellor Gerhard Schröder's spotlight in the political center, conservative chancellor candidate Edmund Stoiber looks to begin eliminating the more conservative elements of his Bavarian reign
January 28, 2002