Helmut Kohl
FameRank: 5

"Helmut Josef Michael Kohl" is a Germans/German conservative politician and statesman. He served as Chancellor of Germany from 1982 to 1998 (of West Germany 1982–90 and of the Germany/reunited Germany 1990–98) and as the chairman of the Christian-Democratic Union of Germany/Christian Democratic Union (CDU) from 1973 to 1998.

His 16-year tenure was the longest of any German chancellor since Otto von Bismarck, and oversaw the end of the Cold War. Kohl is widely regarded as the main architect of the German reunification, and together with French president François Mitterrand, he is also considered the architect of the Maastricht Treaty, which established the European Union.

Kohl and Mitterrand were the joint recipients of the Charlemagne Prize in 1988. In 1996, he won the prestigious Prince of Asturias Award in International Cooperation. In 1998, Kohl was named Honorary Citizen of Europe by the European Council/European heads of state or government for his extraordinary work for European integration and cooperation, an honour previously only bestowed on Jean Monnet.

Kohl was described as "the greatest European leader of the second half of the 20th century" by U.S. Presidents George H. W. Bush and Bill Clinton.

If you enjoy these quotes, be sure to check out other famous politicians! More Helmut Kohl on Wikipedia.

His voice will be missed in the future.

Every kind of terrorism.

The army is under orders to defend every place.

For me it is completely clear that our air bases in Germany would be available to the Americans.

The German government supports all measures which help to fight this scourge of the international community. This is particularly the case for the attacks the U.S. carried out yesterday on targets in Afghanistan and S}dan.

The Christian Democrats always made you feel like the poor relation.

I experienced again in my recent conversations with Mikhail Gorbachev how much Raisa influenced her husband and his life, and how they both belonged together.

What especially touched me was the fact that despite his personal experience, he never became bitter, and carried on in an admirable and just manner.

We ran to win this election and we lost. It is quite clear that the Social Democrats won this election. There is nothing to discuss about this result.