What former Chancellor Helmut Schmidt's home reveals

The virtual tour of the house which can be found on the webpage of the Helmut und Loki Foundation starts in the entrance hall. As can be seen, the Schmidt's were art lovers. Their collection includes unknown artists as well as famous ones such as Chagall, Nolde and Kokoschka. On the app, the camera symbols can be clicked to enlarge the pictures of the artworks. The circles lead to the next rooms.

Although Helmut Schmidt died in November 2015, his office gives the impression that he's just left the room. Different small objects, from a shaving mirror to half-burned candles as well as a pack of menthol cigarettes, do not give the impression this house is a museum. The app allows virtual visitors to zoom into details and move around the room.

Coming from Hamburg, the Schmidt's designed their home bar in the style of a typical harbor pub. It included paintings with nautical motifs, a model of a ship, ropes with sailor knots and souvenir from travels abroad. To the right is the dining room, where more details can be discovered.

The Schmidts ate surrounded by paintings and sculptures. The marks left on the dining table allow us to imagine their meals at home - a visual revealing detail that wouldn't appear in any ordinary biography.

Helmut Schmidt used to keep his huge collection of records next to the fireplace. At the end of his life, he couldn't hear well enough to enjoy them, so he donated the collection to a music and acting school in Hamburg.

Loki and Helmut Schmidt were passionate chess players. They not only played at home but also on holidays (such as pictured here, in Gran Canaria). "I learned to play chess as a child from my father, and haven't learned anything more about the game since," Helmut Schmidt once said.

Helmut Schmidt was an excellent pianist. In the 1980s, after his time as chancellor, he gave concerts. An album was recorded of him playing Mozart's F Major Concerto for Three Pianos. Schmidt was accompanied by two of Germany's best pianists: Justus Frantz and Christoph Eschenbach. He kept playing until the end of his life, despite hearing loss.

There isn't one of the rooms in the virtual tour without a wall of books. The cozy corner in the living room received many prominent guests over the years, such as the Spanish royal family, Juan Carlos and Sophia, as well as Leonid Brezhnev and Henry Kissinger.

Loki Schmidt loved flowers and plants. As an environmentalist, she initiated a German foundation for the protection of endangered plants. The collection of plants in her greenhouse went to a botanical garden in Hamburg, which is now called the Loki-Schmidt-Garten.

Apple trees, roses, camellias and a garden pond made up the view Helmut Schmidt could enjoy from his study. The complete virtual tour can be found on the Helmut und Loki Schmidt Foundation website.