Editing Helmut Kohl (section)

==Personal life==

===Family===
[[File:Bundesarchiv B 145 Bild-F065094-0002, Köln, CDU-Bundestagswahlkampf, Kohl.jpg|thumb|Kohl and his wife Hannelore in 1983]]

On 27 June 1960, Kohl married [[Hannelore Renner]], after he had already asked for her hand in marriage in 1953, delaying the ceremony until he was financially stable.{{sfn|Schwarz|2012|p=88}} Both had known each other since 1948 when they met in a dancing class.{{sfn|Schwarz|2012|p=83}} They had two sons, [[Walter Kohl]] (born 1963) and [[Peter Kohl]] (born 1965). Hannelore Kohl had studied languages and spoke fluent French and English; during her husband's political career, she was an important adviser to him, especially on world affairs. She was a steadfast advocate of German reunification even before it seemed feasible and of NATO and Germany's alliance with the United States. They shared a love for German food: his commentary enhanced the cookbook ''A Culinary Voyage Through Germany'' that she edited.<ref>{{citation |title=A Culinary Voyage Through Germany|year=1997|publisher=Abbeville Press|location=[[New York City|New York]]|isbn=0-7892-0321-9}}</ref>{{Primary source inline|date=November 2024}}

Both sons were educated in the United States, at Harvard University and MIT, respectively. Walter Kohl worked as a financial analyst with [[Morgan Stanley]] in New York City and later founded a consulting firm with his father in 1999. Peter Kohl worked as an investment banker in London for many years. Walter Kohl was formerly married to the business administration academic [[Christine Volkmann]] and they have a son, [[Johannes Volkmann]]; he is now married to the Korean-born Kyung-Sook Kohl née Hwang. Peter Kohl is married to the Turkish-born investment banker [[Elif Sözen-Kohl]], the daughter of a wealthy Turkish industrialist, and they have a daughter, Leyla Kohl (born 2002).<ref>"[http://www.rp-online.de/panorama/huerriyet-helmut-kohl-ist-grossvater-aid-1.2047064 Enkeltochter heißt Leyla – 'Hürriyet': Helmut Kohl ist Großvater]," ''[[Rheinische Post]]'', 12 March 2002</ref>

On 5 July 2001, his wife, Hannelore, died by suicide; she had suffered from [[photodermatitis]] for many years.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2001/jul/15/theobserver.focus|title=The secret pain that only death could silence|date=15 July 2001|work=The Guardian}}</ref>

{{chart top|Family tree}}
{{Tree chart/start|align=center}}
{{chart| | | | | | | | | | |HelmutKohl|y|HanneloreKohl| |HelmutKohl =Helmut Kohl|HanneloreKohl=[[Hannelore Kohl]]}}
{{chart| | | | | | | | | | | |,|-|^|-|-|-|-|-|-|.| | }}
{{chart| | | | | | |ChristineVolkmann|y|WalterKohl|~|KyungSookKohl| | |PeterKohl|y|Elif| |ChristineVolkmann=[[Christine Volkmann]]|WalterKohl=[[Walter Kohl]]|KyungSookKohl=Kyung-Sook Kohl|PeterKohl=[[Peter Kohl]]|Elif=[[Elif Sözen-Kohl]]}}
{{chart| | | | | | | | | |!| | | | | | | | | | | | |!| | }}
{{chart| | | | | | | | | JohannesVolkmann| | | | | | | | | | |LeylaKohl| |JohannesVolkmann=[[Johannes Volkmann]]|LeylaKohl=Leyla Sözen-Kohl}}
{{chart/end}}
{{chart bottom}}

===Second marriage, 2008–2017===

While in hospital in 2008 after suffering serious head trauma,<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.welt.de/politik/deutschland/article165667928/Die-Frau-die-nie-richtig-Familie-Kohl-war.html|title=Maike Kohl-Richter: Die Frau, die nie richtig Familie Kohl war – WELT|website=DIE WELT|date=18 June 2017}}</ref> Kohl, then aged 78, married [[Maike Richter]], a former Chancellery employee who was 44 years old; they had no children. For the entire duration of this marriage, Kohl had a brain injury, was barely able to speak, and was wheelchair-bound. According to Helmut Kohl's son Peter Kohl, Helmut Kohl did not intend to marry Richter and had stated this clearly; "then came the accident and a loss of control," Peter Kohl said, suggesting that Richter had pressured his then seriously ill father into marrying her.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.wunderweib.de/helmut-kohl-so-grausam-ist-seine-neue-frau-wirklich-95.html|title=Helmut Kohl: So grausam ist seine neue Frau wirklich|website=Wunderweib.de|date=7 March 2013|access-date=6 December 2017|archive-date=16 August 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180816125847/https://www.wunderweib.de/helmut-kohl-so-grausam-ist-seine-neue-frau-wirklich-95.html|url-status=dead}}</ref> Richter has been severely criticised in Germany, by Kohl's children, former friends and by German media.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.welt.de/politik/deutschland/article114028759/Wird-Altkanzler-Kohl-von-seiner-Frau-fremdgesteuert.html|title=Kohl-Söhne: Wird Altkanzler Kohl von seiner Frau fremdgesteuert? – WELT|website=DIE WELT|date=March 2013|last1=Krauel|first1=Torsten}}</ref> Following his new marriage, Kohl became estranged from his two sons and his grandchildren, and his sons said their father was kept "like a prisoner" by his new wife. His children and grandchildren were also prevented from seeing him by his new wife for the last six years of his life.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/mar/03/helmut-kohl-new-wife-family-feud|title=Helmut Kohl is kept 'like a prisoner' by his new wife, sons claim|first=Kate|last=Connolly|date=3 March 2013|work=The Guardian}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/bitter-feud-divides-family-of-germany-s-reunification-leader-8517407.html|title=Bitter feud divides family of Germany's reunification leader|date=1 March 2013|website=The Independent|access-date=6 December 2017}}</ref><ref name="auto2">{{cite news|url=https://www.thetimes.com/world/europe/article/helmut-kohl-s-sons-did-not-have-contact-with-him-for-six-years-9xft6hw8x|title=Helmut Kohl's sons did not have contact with him for six years|author=David Charter|website=[[The Times]]|access-date=6 December 2017}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.irishtimes.com/news/world/europe/kohl-family-tragedy-given-closure-as-german-reformer-is-remembered-1.3124267|title=Kohl family tragedy given closure as German reformer is remembered|newspaper=The Irish Times|access-date=6 December 2017}}</ref> In his biography of his mother, Peter Kohl wrote about the only time he had visited Richter's apartment, which he described as "a kind of private Helmut Kohl museum" full of Helmut Kohl photographs and artefacts everywhere; "the whole thing looked like the result of a staggering, meticulous [[collecting]] for the purpose of hero worship, as we know it from reports on [[Stalking|stalkers]]," Kohl wrote.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.sueddeutsche.de/politik/altkanzler-kohl-und-seine-familie-eine-oeffentliche-tragoedie-1.1687107|title=Kohl und seine Familie – eine öffentliche Tragödie|first=Thorsten|last=Denkler|date=17 June 2017|work=Süddeutsche Zeitung}}</ref> Jochen Arntz criticised Maike Richter in the ''[[Süddeutsche Zeitung]]'' in 2012 for building a "wall" around Helmut Kohl and controlling him; as a result he had also become estranged from many former friends disliked by his new wife.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.bdzv.de/twp/preistraeger-preisverleihung/preisverleihung2013/jochen-arntz/|title=Jochen Arntz|website=Bdzv.de|access-date=6 December 2017}}</ref> Kohl biographer Heribert Schwan describes Richter as "more than conservative, rather German nationalist," and said she insists on the right to "interpretational sovereignty" in relation to Kohl's life and that she has insisted on many proven falsehoods.<ref>Heribert Schwan, Tilman Jens, ''Vermächtnis: Die Kohl-Protokolle'', Heyne Verlag, 2014, {{ISBN|9783641167974}}</ref> It caused a scandal when Richter denied Kohl's sons and grandchildren entry to Helmut Kohl's house, the sons' childhood home, after Kohl's death.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.welt.de/politik/article165808001/Mich-empoert-das-pietaetlose-Verhalten-von-Maike-Kohl-Richter.html|title=Kohl-Sohn Walter: "Mich empört das pietätlose Verhalten von Maike Kohl-Richter" – WELT|website=DIE WELT|date=21 June 2017}}</ref> Richter was also criticised for attempting to take full control of Kohl's funeral, and for trying to prevent Chancellor Merkel from speaking at the ceremony in Strasbourg. Richter wanted Hungarian prime minister Viktor Orbán, who has fiercely criticised Merkel's refugee policies, to speak instead; she only relented when told it would cause a scandal.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.thelocal.de/20170621/orban-not-merkel-was-supposed-to-speak-at-kohl-memorial-report|title=Orban, not Merkel, was supposed to speak at Kohl memorial: report|date=21 June 2017|website=Thelocal.de|access-date=6 December 2017}}</ref>