Hannelore Kohl

Wife of German chancellor Helmut Kohl

Johanna Klara Eleonore "Hannelore" Kohl (née Renner; 7 March 1933 – 5 July 2001) was the wife of former German Chancellor Helmut Kohl (died 2017). She met him for the first time in Ludwigshafen, Germany, when she was 15 years old.

Hannelore Kohl (1976)

She was born in Berlin as Eleonore Johanna Renner, and later, she changed her first name to "Hannelore". When her husband was chancellor she set up the Hannelore Kohl Stiftung (that is the Hannelore Kohl Charity) and the Kuratorium ZNS, a foundation to help find a cure for illnesses of the central nervous system.

In 1945, when she was 12, she was raped by Red Army soldiers.

On 5 July 2001, Mrs Kohl was found dead in her home in Ludwigshafen. She had apparently committed suicide with an overdose of sleeping pills. She was said to have suffered from photo allergy (sunlight burns the skin).

However, journalist Andrew Gimson, writing in The Spectator[1] questioned official version of events, and so did the German newsmagazine, Stern and the BBC.[2]

Kohl is known for her collection of German-style cooking recipes, Kulinarische Reise durch Deutsche Länder[3] (Culinary Journey through German Regions), published in 1996.

References change

  1. "Married to a monster" Archived 2014-08-15 at the Wayback Machine, Findarticles.com,28 July 2001
  2. "German media split by suicide", BBC, 12 July 2001
  3. Hannelore and Helmut Kohl: Kulinarische Reise durch deutsche Lande Zabert Sandmann, München 1996, ISBN 3-924678-87-1

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