Helmut Kohl

Helmut Kohl (1930–2017) was a German politician of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU). He served in the Rhineland-Palatinate state parliament from 1959 to 1976 and was Minister-President of the state from 1969 to 1976. From 1973 to 1998, he was chairman of the CDU, and from 1976 to 2002 a member of the German Bundestag. Kohl served as Federal Chancellor of Germany from 1982 to 1998. As the first chancellor of reunified Germany, he played a major role in shaping German reunification. With 16 years in office, he was Germany’s longest-serving federal chancellor. In 1998, he was named an honorary citizen of Europe.