Photo Gallery Guarding Kohl's Legacy
It has only been a week since former German Chancellor Helmut Kohl died. Already a battle is brewing over his estate. In 2014, his second wife, Maike Kohl-Richter, told the Welt am Sonntag newspaper that she had "sole decision-making authority" over his estate. Kohl, the chancellor who reunited the two Germanys and also launched the European common currency, is considered one of the most important historical figures in postwar Germany. Many have accused his wife Kohl-Richter of trying to control historical intepretations of her husband's legacy.
Helmut Kohl and his wife had been estranged for a number of years from his sons, who he had together with his first wife, Hannelore Kohl, who committed suicide after a long illness in 2001. Unpleasant scenes reportedly took place when Walter Kohl (pictured here) tried to see his deceased father last Friday. He had been the subject of a restraining order and was not allowed to visit his father's home.
During his relationship with Maike Kohl-Richter and his final years of life, the couple unwound their relationships with a number of former friends. Here, Kohl-Richter is seen tending to flowers and candles laid in front of the home she shared with the former German chancellor in Ludwigshafen.
Kohl is pictured here in 2014 with his friend and now European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker. The current plan is for a European state funeral to be held for Helmut Kohl, who was one of only three Honorary Citizens of Europe. His wife has been pushing the plan behind the scenes. Initially, she had not planned to invite current German Chancellor Angela Merkel to speak. Kohl felt that Merkel had stabbed him in the back in the course of a party financing scandal that cost him his position as honorary chairman of the CDU.
One person Kohl-Richter did want to invite to speak was authoritarian Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán (left), who visited Helmut Kohl at his home in Ludwigshafen in 2016. Many viewed the meeting as a symbol of Kohl's disapproval of Merkel's refugee policies. But it has been reported that Kohl-Richter has backed away from the idea under pressure from friends. Orbán is viewed by many as a politician who actively undermines the European values and freedoms that Chancellor Kohl championed during his political career.
After friends of Kohl-Richter intervened on her behalf, Merkel is also now expected to be one of the speakers at Kohl's funeral. Friends warned Kohl-Richter it could be a major scandal if Merkel was not invited to participate.
Many in Kohl's party, the conservative Christian Democratic Union, fear that Maike Kohl-Richter will limit access to his documents, many of which could shed light on some of the most important chapters in German history.
