Olaf Scholz to George W. Bush mourn
Henry Kissinger was a “great diplomat”
Henry Kissinger was born in Fürth, Bavaria, in 1923.
© imago/Sven Simon
From the ex-President of the USA to the current Chancellor of Germany: World politics mourns the death of Henry Kissinger.
Heads of state and government from all over the world remember the late US politician Henry Kissinger, who died last Wednesday (November 29th) at the age of 100. On the official X account (formerly Twitter) Chancellor Olaf Scholz, 65, says of a black and white photo of the deceased: “Henry Kissinger shaped America’s foreign policy like no one else. His commitment to the transatlantic friendship between the USA and Germany was crucial and he was always close to his German homeland. The world has lost a great diplomat.”
In a press release, Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier, 67, echoed similar words: “With Henry Kissinger, we are losing an impressive man with an incredible life story: the contemporary witness of a century, the driving intellectual force of US foreign policy for many decades, the guardian of transatlantic relations .” As such, he laid “the foundation for the end of the Cold War and for democratic change in Eastern Europe.”
Like Markus Söder, a Franconian
Bavaria’s Prime Minister Markus Söder, 56, points out in relation to Kissinger that “not all of his positions […] “were undisputed.” “But he was one of the most important and clever foreign policymakers of the last century,” is what he says on X. “What will remain above all is his greatness in extending a hand to our country after the Second World War and being bound in friendship until the end,” adds Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock42.
Also via X wrote EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, 65: “Henry Kissinger’s diplomatic strategy and excellence have shaped world politics throughout the 20th century. His influence and legacy will continue to have an impact well into the 21st century.”
“America has lost one of the most reliable and distinctive voices on foreign affairs with the passing of Henry Kissinger,” it says in a statement of former US President George W. Bush, 77. He will forever be grateful to Kissinger for his advice, “but most of all for his friendship. Laura and I will miss his wisdom, his charm and his humor.”
Served under two US presidents
The Republican Kissinger was US Secretary of State from 1973 to 1977, and previously National Security Advisor to Presidents Richard Nixon (1913-1994) and Gerald Ford (1913-2006) from 1969 to 1975.
Kissinger was born Heinz Alfred Kissinger in Fürth, Bavaria, in 1923. In 1938, the Jewish-Orthodox family fled the Nazi regime to the USA. During World War II, Kissinger joined the U.S. Army as an interpreter and became a naturalized citizen.