Five years after the death of former German Chancellor Helmut Kohl (1930-2017), his tomb in the southwestern German city of Speyer has not yet been completed. City officials had asked the deceased widow, Mike Cole-Richter, to do so, but nothing has happened so far.
When Helmut Kohl died on June 16, 2017, at the age of 87, crowds of people gathered to visit his grave located in a cemetery adjacent to Speyer Cathedral. Cameras are looking at the grave of the late chancellor with a simple wooden cross with the inscription “Helmut Kohl 1930-2017”. The cross is surrounded by bushes and the tombstone is still missing.
The condition of Helmut Kohl’s grave sparks controversy among residents and the media, as well as the resentment of Walter and his brother Peter, the late chancellor’s two sons, who accuse his widow, Michael Kohl-Richter, of being wealthy managers. the modest funeral “does not suit” the former chancellor inside and outside Germany.
The body of the former chancellor was buried on July 1, 2017, near an old cathedral in Speyer, with the participation of international leaders from around the world.
Walter Kohl said it was a “shame” that the grave, even after nearly five years, seemed like “a temporary solution without love”, criticizing the family’s lack of participation in choosing the location and design of the grave and saying he wanted to rebury his father.
The late Chancellor has a place in the family cemetery in Ludwigshafen, along with his first wife, Hannelore, who passed away in 2001. The relationship between the children of Helmut Kohl and his second wife, Mike Kohl-Richter , is considered interrupted.
Finally, Speyer Mayor Stivati Seiler asked Mike Kohl-Richter, the widow of the late chancellor, to complete his grave. Five years after Helmut Kohl’s funeral, city officials believe it is time to complete the tomb of the deceased.
This also includes dismantling the fence and video surveillance, as these measures were once desirable to prevent vandalism of the grave, but no incidents have been recorded, a city spokeswoman said. The same spokeswoman went on to say that an initial conversation with the widow of the late Cole so far has yielded no results.
Mike Cole-Richter, widow of the late chancellor, photograph.
Cole’s widow’s lawyer, Stefan Wieser, said she was fascinated by the city’s initiative, adding that Michael Cole-Richter had completed her husband’s last will by designing the grave.
However, rumors have been circulating for years that Helmut Kohl, a devout Catholic, would have wanted to bury him next to emperors, kings and bishops in the crypt of the famous Speyer Cathedral, but refused to do so, according to a cathedral member. .
The Christian Democrat Party (to which the late chancellor belonged) distances itself from participating in the debate on the design and maintenance of the tomb. “This is a private matter,” said a party spokesman in Berlin.
It is worth noting that the late Helmut Kohl led Germany during its unification in 1990 and he held the post of chancellor of West Germany and then of Federal Germany from 1982 to 1998. Kohl is considered one of the key symbols of European unity in post-World War II period.
RM / (EPD)
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From Adenauer to Merkel .. German Chancellors and their fingerprints in government
Konrad Adenauer (1949-1963)
Konrad Adenauer was Germany’s first chancellor after World War II. Under his leadership, Germany became a sovereign state. In foreign policy, Germany joined the Western camp in the face of the Soviet Union and its allies. Adenauer’s Christian Democrat style of government was seen as authoritarian. Adenauer comes from the Rhine basin, so he wants Bonn to become the capital of the Federal Republic of Germany.
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From Adenauer to Merkel .. German Chancellors and their fingerprints in government
Ludwig Erhard (1963-1966)
In 1963, the Christian Democrats forced 87-year-old Adenauer to resign and elected Ludwig Erhard as his successor. Erhard had gained fame and popularity for adopting the social market system and became the “father” of the German economic miracle. Cigar did not remove them from the lips and was rarely seen without it; He drank at least 15 cigars a day. His government did not last long; He resigned in 1966.
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From Adenauer to Merkel .. German Chancellors and their fingerprints in government
Kurt Georg Kissinger (1966-1969)
Kurt Georg Kissinger formed the first bipartisan, broad-based coalition government. He managed to give a boost to the economy, which was hit by stagnation, but the passage of the emergency law, which gives the state special rights to deal with crises, pushed young people to take to the streets. . Hence the student movement was born in the late sixties. Kissinger has been the subject of controversy over his past during Nazi rule.
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From Adenauer to Merkel .. German Chancellors and their fingerprints in government
Willy Brant (1969-1974)
Social mobility led to political change; Willy Brandt became Germany’s first Social Democrat chancellor. Kneeling in front of a memorial to the Jewish ghetto in Warsaw, I was reminded that I apologized for Germany’s Nazi past and reconciled with the present. He adopted a foreign policy that eased tensions with the eastern camp, for which he was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1971.
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From Adenauer to Merkel .. German Chancellors and their fingerprints in government
Helmut Schmidt (1974-1982)
Helmut Schmidt became chancellor following the resignation of his friend and party comrade Willy Brandt. His reign was marked by several crises, including inflation, economic deflation, and the Arab oil embargo during the October 1973 War. He resolutely confronted the left-wing Red Army terrorism and did not succumb to their blackmail. . He lost his position in a vote of confidence in the German parliament (Bundestag).
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From Adenauer to Merkel .. German Chancellors and their fingerprints in government
Helmut Kohl (1982-1998)
The longest-serving head of government in German history after World War II; His reign lasted 16 years. Kohl was not inclined to reform and seeks to preserve the situation as it is, but he went down in history as the “Chancellor of German Unity” and its architect. He also worked to rebuild what was once the so-called “German Democratic Republic”. His legacy did not stop at the borders of Germany, as he worked tirelessly to promote the strengthening of European relations and the facilitation of European integration.
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From Adenauer to Merkel .. German Chancellors and their fingerprints in government
Gerhard Schroeder (1998-2005)
After four terms for Helmut Kohl, the mood for change matured. Gerhard Schroeder headed the first coalition government between the Social Democrats and the Greens. According to him, Germany participated for the first time in foreign military missions within NATO, such as those in Afghanistan. Schroeder made changes to the social welfare system in what became known as Agenda 2010. This caused a crisis within the Social Democratic Party and many demonstrated against what they called “social erosion”.
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From Adenauer to Merkel .. German Chancellors and their fingerprints in government
Angela Merkel (2005-present)
Angela Merkel was elected as the first female Chancellor in 2005. On March 14, 2018, she was re-elected for the fourth time. Her political approach was characterized by pragmatism. Its political star began to slowly fade since 2015 and its historic decision to accept more than one million refugees in Germany. After several defeats in the state elections, the “Iron Woman” announced that it would resign from the leadership of the party and would not run for chancellor in 2021. Diana Bessler / Khaled Salama
