For you youngsters out there -- this is NOT the founder of Kohl's department store (that was some Kohl named Maxwell) ... but, as the link below says, the world is mourning the loss of the "unifier of Germany and the integrator of Europe".
For a very important semester abroad in the fall of 1990, Kohl was *my* chancellor -- although I shared him with all of Germany -- and I do mean *all*. While I was overseas, West Germany and East Germany unified and Helmut was instrumental in guiding that process as head of the government (and head of its ruling party, the CDU). Truth be told, the day I skipped class in Koln and snuck away to Bonn to wait outside the gates of the governmental buildings was because Helmut was meeting with a certain character called Gorbachev and I was hoping to glimpse a bit of history as the two worked together on creating the future (although the closest I came that day was to see a cavalcade of cars as it arrived).
And now he's gone. He was the leader during my lifetime of one of the greatest countries in the world, and Helmut will be missed.
UNIFIER OF GERMANY, INTEGRATOR OF EUROPE:
http://www.sify.com/news/unifier-of-germany-integrator-of-europe-helmut-kohl-dead-news-international-rgqxagggjidgh.html
JUST THE FACTS, FRAULEIN:
http://www.cnn.com/2013/01/21/world/europe/helmut-kohl-fast-facts/index.html
LOOKS LIKE WE ALMOST LOST HIM IN THE TSUNAMI:
http://www.foxnews.com/story/2004/12/29/celebrities-among-victims-tsunami.html
