(Baonghean.vn) - Conservative politician Helmut Kohl was Germany's longest-serving chancellor (1982-1998) since Otto von Bismarck. He is considered the chief architect of the European Union and the leader who steered Germany's reunification after the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989. On the morning of June 16, 2017, former German Chancellor Helmut Kohl breathed his last at his home in Ludwigshafen at the age of 87.
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| Mr. Kohl speaks at the West German parliament in Bonn in 1982. Photo: AP. |
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| Former Chancellor Helmut Kohl led Germany to reunification after the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989. Here, Kohl and then US Vice President George HW Bush pose in 1983, when Germany was still divided. |
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| Mr. Kohl (center) and British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher at a summit of the European Community EC in 1988. Photo: Reuters. |
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| Former Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev and Mr Kohl after signing joint declarations as well as conventions and treaties to promote the reunification of East and West Germany in Bonn in June 1989. |
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But when the Berlin Wall fell in November 1989, Kohl “seized the mantle of history” and became as big as his own height. Pictured: Helmut Kohl is greeted by thousands of East Germans. Photo: AFP. |
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| Former German Chancellor at a rally on November 10, 1989 in Berlin after the fall of the Berlin Wall. |
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| Mr. Kohl smiles during a visit to Dresden on December 18, 1989. |
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| Mr. Kohl (right) with French President Jacques Chirac (center) and US President Bill Clinton during the signing ceremony of the peace agreement for Bosnia at the Elysee Palace in Paris, France, in 1995. Photo: Reuters. |
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| Helmut Kohl unveils a portrait of himself at an event in Berlin on June 9, 2005. |
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| Mr. Kohl was the one who guided Ms. Angela Merkel in her early political career. Photo: Reuters. |
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| The last days of the former German Chancellor's life were spent in a wheelchair. |
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| Helmut Kohl was the longest-serving German Chancellor since the war (1982-1998). He passed away on June 16 at his home in Ludwigshafen, Rheinland-Pfalz state in western Germany, at the age of 87. |
Kim Ngoc
(Synthetic)
