Editing Helmut Kohl (section)

=== Youth and education ===
Kohl was born on 3 April 1930 in [[Ludwigshafen]]. He was the third child of Hans Kohl (3 January 1887 – 19 October 1975),<ref>{{cite book|title=Helmut Kohl: Virtuose der Macht|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=SHMsAQAAIAAJ&q=Hans+Kohl+6.+Januar+1887+–+20.+Oktober+1975|page=11|first1=Heribert|last1=Schwan|first2=Rolf|last2=Steininger|publisher=Artemis & Winkler|date=2010|isbn=9783538072725}}</ref> a [[Bavarian army]] veteran and civil servant, and his wife, Cäcilie (''née'' Schnur; 17 November 1892 – 1 August 1977).

Kohl's family was conservative and Catholic and remained loyal to the [[Centre Party (Germany)|Catholic Centre Party]] before and after 1933. His elder brother died serving in the [[Wehrmacht]] in [[World War II]] at the age of 19.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Pletter |first=Roman |date=2017-06-16 |title=Helmut Kohl, German statesman who united his country after Cold War, dies at 87 |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/obituaries/helmut-kohl-german-statesman-who-united-his-country-after-cold-war-dies-at-87/2017/06/16/873ee8ea-52a8-11e7-91eb-9611861a988f_story.html |access-date=2025-04-03 |work=The Washington Post |language=en-US |issn=0190-8286 |quote=His only brother, Walter, died in 1944 at age 19 while serving in the German army.}}</ref> At the age of ten, Kohl joined, like most children in Germany at the time,{{Citation needed|date=April 2025}} the ''[[Deutsches Jungvolk]]'', a section of the [[Hitler Youth]]. Aged 15, on 20 April 1945, Kohl was sworn into the Hitler Youth by leader [[Artur Axmann]] at [[Berchtesgaden]], just days before the end of the war, as membership was mandatory for all boys of his age. Kohl was also [[conscription|drafted]] for military service in 1945; he was not involved in any combat, a fact he later referred to as the "mercy of late birth" (German: ''Gnade der späten Geburt'').{{sfn|Schwarz|2012|pages=42–43}}

Kohl attended the Ruprecht Elementary School and continued at the Max-Planck-Gymnasium.{{sfn|Schwarz|2012|p=38}} After graduating in 1950, Kohl began to study law in [[Frankfurt]] am Main, spending two semesters commuting between Ludwigshafen and Frankfurt.{{sfn|Schwarz|2012|p=62}} Here, Kohl heard lectures from [[Carlo Schmid (German politician)|Carlo Schmid]] and [[Walter Hallstein]], among others.{{sfn|Schwarz|2012|p=63}} In 1951, Kohl switched to [[Heidelberg University]], where he studied history and [[political science]]. Kohl was the first in his family to attend university.{{sfn|Schwarz|2012|pp=61–62}}