Wife of former German chancellor Kohl dies

Hannelore Kohl
Hannelore Kohl

The wife of former German chancellor Mr Helmut Kohl, Hannelore, has died at the age of 68.

Her body was found early today in her apartment in Ludwigshafen, western Germany.

Mrs Kohl suffered from a skin disease that prevented her from attending her son Peter's marriage in Turkey at the end of May. The circumstances surrounding her death are still unknown.

She had been married to the former chancellor since 1960. Born in the Palatinate region of western Germany, Mrs Kohl grew up in Leipzig, where she lived until the end of World War II.

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Mrs Kohl, an interpreter by training, chaired an association that helps accident victims with brain disorders to pursue their rehabilitation. She also wrote a cookery book.

In her final years, she was rarely seen in public and had withdrawn from political life.

AFP