On his 5,144th day in office, Helmut Kohl surpasses Konrad Adenauer's record as the longest-serving post-war chancellor of Germany, marking a significant milestone in modern German political history
Helmut Kohl was one of the most prominent German leaders, who was single-handedly responsible for the integration of East and West Germany to a unified country.
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Born in a modest family, he made his way to politics since a young age. He was elected as the chairman of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) in 1973, a position he retained for more than two decades until 1998.
It was during his term as the chairman that CDU formed an alliance with Free Democratic Party (FDP) that went onto form a coalition government.
Kohl benefited the most from the move as he was made the Chancellor of West Germany. In his 16 years of tenure, he contributed greatly for the development of the country. He foresaw developing friendly relations with France.
However, the turning point came when he anchored the process of reunification of Germany. Kohl is regarded as the main architect of German reunification. He is considered as "the greatest European leader of the second half of the 20th century".