Helmut Kohl

Helmut Kohl (1930–2017) led the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) and served as Chancellor for sixteen years, the longest tenure of any post-war German leader until surpassed in continuous service comparisons by later figures. He took office in October 1982 after a constructive vote of no confidence ousted Social Democrat Helmut Schmidt, and he remained Chancellor until Gerhard Schröder's SPD-Green coalition defeated him in the 1998 federal election.

Kohl is most associated with German reunification. After the fall of the Berlin Wall on 9 November 1989, he presented a Ten-Point Plan to the Bundestag on 28 November 1989 outlining a path toward German unity. He negotiated the Treaty on the Final Settlement with Respect to Germany (the "Two Plus Four Treaty") signed in Moscow on 12 September 1990 by the two German states and the four occupying powers (United States, Soviet Union, United Kingdom, France), which restored full sovereignty to a unified Germany. Reunification formally took effect on 3 October 1990.

In European policy, Kohl was a driving force behind deeper integration alongside French President François Mitterrand. Their partnership produced the Maastricht Treaty (signed 7 February 1992), which created the European Union and set the framework for economic and monetary union. Kohl pushed through the decision to abolish the Deutsche Mark in favor of the euro, often against domestic skepticism, viewing monetary union as a political guarantee that a larger Germany would remain anchored in Europe.

Domestically, Kohl oversaw the rapid economic and legal integration of the former East Germany, including the controversial 1:1 currency conversion of 1990. His later years were marred by the CDU donations affair revealed in 1999, in which he admitted accepting undeclared party contributions but refused to name donors, citing a "word of honor." Despite this, he is widely regarded as a central figure in shaping post-Cold War Europe.