Bill Clinton and Angela Merkel among senior figures at memorial for former chancellor who oversaw fall of Berlin Wall

This article is more than 3 years old

This article is more than 3 years old

European leaders have joined former US president Bill Clinton to pay tribute to former German chancellor Helmut Kohl, who oversaw German reunification and the end of the Cold War.

Kohl was a founder of modern-day Europe and served as chancellor from 1982 to 1998. He died on 16 June aged 87.

European commission chief Jean-Claude Juncker said in a speech in the French city of Strasbourg, the location of the European parliament, that Kohl was “a giant of the post-war period”.

It was the first time that the European parliament has paid tribute to a leader in such a manner.

“Helmut Kohl was not just the architect of German unity. He contributed substantially, more than others, to the reconciliation between European history and European geography,” said Juncker, adding that without Kohl “Europe would not have the euro”.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Angela Merkel leaves after writing in the book of condolences for Helmut Kohl at the Christian Democratic Party headquarters in Berlin. Photograph: Kay Nietfeld/AP

On Kohl’s watch, West and East Germany reunified after the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989, becoming one of the most stable and prosperous democracies in the world.

With former French president François Mitterrand, Kohl also drove the expansion and integration of the EU.

Together they helped to open up its membership to fledgling democracies of the former Soviet bloc, create the euro single currency and ripped away internal border controls.

“Helmut Kohl gave us the chance to be involved in something bigger than ourselves, bigger than our terms in office and bigger than our fleeting careers,” Clinton said.

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Kohl’s successor and one-time protege, Angela Merkel, struggled to rein in her emotions as she hailed “the chancellor of unification”.



“Without Helmut Kohl, the life of millions of people, mine included, who lived on the other side of the wall, would not be what it is today,” she declared.

The French president, Emmanuel Macron, said: “Helmut Kohl was a privileged partner for France, an essential ally, but he was also more than that, he was a friend. We are here to salute his mark on history.”

The EU flag of 12 gold stars on a blue background was draped over the coffin, which was placed in the chamber of the European parliament by a phalanx of eight German soldiers.

Helmut Kohl obituary Read more

Three wreaths were placed in front of the casket – one in the colours of the Federal Republic of Germany, the other in the name of the EU, and the third in the name of Kohl’s wife Maike Kohl-Richter, bearing a simple inscription: “In Liebe, deine Meike” (With love, Maike).

The choice of Strasbourg for the ceremony carried great symbolic weight. A city on the Rhine border with Germany, Strasbourg is located in a region that once was bloodily contested by France and Germany.

Its location is an emblem of the post-war reconciliation between the two former enemies that was fostered by the EU.

Awkward farewell for Helmut Kohl, who united Germany but divided family Read more

The parliament building was ringed by steel for the ceremony, with more than 2,000 police on duty.

Kohl’s coffin was then taken by boat down the Rhine to the south-west German town of Speyer for his funeral service. It was draped in the black, red and gold flag of Germany, with the eagle of the federal republic at its centre.

Kohl’s funeral started at around 16:00GMT in the cathedral of Speyer. About 1,500 people attended the mass, which was followed by a military tribute.



The funeral was watched by some 600 people as it aired on a giant television screen outside the cathedral, police said. But his sons boycotted the event owing to a long-running family feud.