Helmut Josef Michael Kohl (German pronunciation: [ˈhɛlmuːt ˈkoːl] (); 3 April 1930 – 16 June 2017) was Chancellor of Germany from 1982 to 1998 and Leader of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) from 1973 to 1998. Kohl's 16-year tenure is the longest of any German chancellor since Otto von Bismarck, and oversaw the end of the Cold War, the German reunification and the creation of the European Union (EU).