Berlin / Ludwigshafen (dpa / lrs) – CDU leader Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer has recognized the former Chancellor Helmut Kohl as a pioneer of the European idea, whose values should guide Europe in the current corona pandemic. On Friday, Kramp-Karrenbauer said in a letter to party members on the occasion of Kohl’s 90th birthday: “For the Christian Democrat Kohl, Europe was the guarantor of peace, freedom and prosperity. He has always fought for a European Union that is united by common values We should be guided by this compass today. “
The CDU chairwoman also wrote: “The great European Kohl would have campaigned with full conviction and perseverance today to ensure that we tackle the challenges of the future together, help each other and not allow ourselves to be divided.” And with a direct view of the corona pandemic, Kramp-Karrenbauer emphasized: “Today our continent is facing a historic challenge. We should also think about what Helmut Kohl directed.”
Kohl was born on April 3, 1930 in Ludwigshafen and died on June 16, 2017 after a long illness in his house in the district of Oggersheim in Rhineland-Palatinate. Kramp-Karrenbauer wrote to party members that the CDU leadership had decided to name the large federal executive room in the party headquarters in Berlin after Kohl. In addition, the CDU had commissioned a bust of Kohl, which should find its permanent place there. “The bust was only completed yesterday. I can assure you that it looks great,” wrote the CDU leader. The work of art was designed by the French sculptor Serge Mangin.
When the hall will be renamed depends on when the measures against the coronavirus are changed – so meetings in a larger circle are possible there again. The CDU put a digital birthday book online in which citizens can write memories and thoughts. In a foreword to the memorial book signed jointly by Kramp-Karrenbauer, General Secretary Paul Ziemiak and Kohl’s widow Maike Kohl-Richter it says: “Kohl’s life was a life for Germany, for Europe and for the CDU, a life for peace and freedom.”
Ziemiak also highlighted Kohl’s European policy as exemplary. “We should all recall the words of Helmut Kohl:” Europe is our future. Europe is our fate, “” Ziemiak told the German press agency. The CDU wants to continue this work. “We not only owe it to Helmut Kohl, but above all to our children and grandchildren, who should grow up in a Europe that continues to stand for peace, freedom, security and prosperity.”
The chairman of the CDU-affiliated Konrad Adenauer Foundation and former Bundestag President Norbert Lammert told the dpa: “Helmut Kohl was a stroke of luck for Germany and for Europe.” Especially in this year, in which Germany is celebrating the 30th anniversary of unity and honoring Kohl’s 90th birthday, the historical greatness of Kohl as Chancellor of Unity becomes clear. The chairman of the Senior Citizens’ Union, Otto Wulff, praised the fact that Kohl had always emphasized the importance of the elderly in everyday politics, without whom the Union could not win elections. Kohl always stood up for the interests of the elderly.
A large commemoration in honor of Kohl in the heart of his hometown Ludwigshafen fell victim to the corona virus. Now the CDU state chief and Federal Agriculture Minister Julia Klöckner and CDU state parliamentary group leader Christian Baldauf wanted to pay tribute to Kohl in videos.
In Rhineland-Palatinate, Kohl’s home state, the political scientist Kohl became prime minister in 1969 before moving to federal politics in 1976. As a “record” Chancellor he was in office for 16 years until 1998, and for 25 years he led the CDU. At the end of 1999 Kohl admitted that he had not stated donations to the CDU with a total volume of more than two million D-Marks in the statement of accounts. He refused to give the donor names because he had given them his word of honor. This ultimately cost him the CDU honorary chairmanship.
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