During Kohl's urgent visit to Moscow on February 10, 1990, Gorbachev told the German chancellor that, "the issue of the German nation's unity... will be decided by the Germans themselves".
IMF Managing Director Christine Lagarde says Kohl was a visionary who worked to build "a peaceful and prosperous Europe".
November 1989: East Germany opens the Berlin Wall.
"At the same time, recalled the president of the German Bishops' Conference, he was "the chancellor of the European idea" and played a major and decisive role in the growth of a united Europe without frontiers".
A physically imposing man - he stood 6 feet 4 inches and weighed well over 300 pounds in his leadership years - Chancellor Kohl pursued his and his country's political interests as Germany's chancellor with persistent, even stubborn, determination.
"The crucial thing is what comes out at the end", he famously said in 1984.
Even Germany's Left party, the spiritual successor to the East German communists, said that Friday's focus should be on "mourning a great European".
He refused to reveal where the money had come from, saying he had given the donors his "Ehrenwort", or word of honour, not to disclose their names.
"When a new spirit began to sweep through Eastern Europe in the 1980s, when freedom was won in Poland, when courageous people in Leipzig, East Berlin and elsewhere in East Germany staged a peaceful revolution, Helmut Kohl was the right person at the right time", said Merkel.
He is also hailed for his contribution to European integration and the European single currency and market.
He died at the age of 87.
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September 1990: West and East Germany and the four World War II allies sign the "two-plus-four" agreement, sanctioning reunification and heralding the return of full German sovereignty.
She had been due to make a public appearance at the German ambassador's residence in Rome around 1700 GMT.
He says Kohl "will be remembered in Russian Federation as a staunch advocate of a friendly relationship between our countries".
In western Germany, reunification soon also turned into a huge financial burden as it began to finance the formerly communist east.
Without Helmut Kohl in the poition of Germany's Federal Chancellor, there would be no euro today and the EU would never get its contemporary contours, European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker said. Kohl mentored Merkel early in her career, appointing her to her first ministerial post.
"Without Helmut Kohl, the euro would not exist", added Juncker.
Immediately after securing the deal Kohl praised the diplomacy of Charles Haughey and Gerry Collins for opening the door to what he described as "the dream of all Germans".
Some scholars believe that the turnaround was related to the request the Soviet leader sent Kohl in the beginning of January.
Contrary to common belief, the days and years that followed the fall of the Berlin Wall were not a joyous time. Through his spokesman, Bush issued a statement that was posted on Twitter.
In the spring of 1945, after surviving a heavy Allied bombing of Berchtesgaden and its environs in the Bavarian Alps, where Hitler had a retreat, Mr. Kohl decided the war was over for him.
Bush said in a statement: "Working closely with my very good friend to help achieve a peaceful end to the Cold War and the unification of Germany within North Atlantic Treaty Organisation will remain one of the great joys of my life".
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