Helmut Kohl is dead

Helmut Kohl, former Chancellor of Germany, is dead. He died today in the town he was born in 1930 Ludwigshafen am Rhein.

Kohl is seen as a great statesman, a European and not least will be remembered as the Chancellor when Germany reunified. He certainly achieved a lot.

But few consider that most of his moves, and that includes the reunification, were done with a strong desire to power. Before the reunification the German economy was tanking and his party was close to a loss in the upcoming elections.
The reunification gave a boost to both the election result and the economy through the new markets.

He also never understood the anger that people felt towards him when he refused to tell where the suitcase of money came from, because he "gave his word of honor".
This ultimately led to Merkel coming into power.

The other person closely involved in the scandal, Schäuble, managed to climb back up into power to harass Europe with his song of "save save save until you die".