From 1974 to 1982 Helmut Schmidt was the fifth Federal Chancellor in Germany. His successor, Helmut Kohl, ruled until 1998. Both have now achieved passable honors in Mannheim.
The city of Mannheim has erected monuments to the former Chancellors Helmut Kohl and Helmut Schmidt that could help with navigation: On Wednesday, Helmut-Kohl-Strasse and the Helmut-Schmidt-Bridge were officially named. The merits of the former heads of government Kohl (CDU, 1930-2017) and Schmidt (SPD, 1918-2015) for the Federal Republic of Germany are to be honored. The council approved the 2020 designation. Because of the corona pandemic, the official act only followed now.
These are not the only reminiscences of former chancellors in the city: the Helmut-Schmidt-Bridge, for example, leads to Willy-Brandt-Platz. The bridge head of the Konrad Adenauer Bridge is currently being renovated. In the case of Helmut-Kohl-Strasse, the Südtangente was named after the former chancellor. You can even track this on Google Maps, while the Helmut Schmidt Bridge is still lacking.
Unlike in the hometown
Also, a Helmut-Kohl-Straße as such is nothing new: Dessau-Roßlau (Saxony-Anhalt), for example, has had one since 2018, Erfurt (Thuringia) since February of this year. In Saarlouis in Saarland, the city council voted in January for a street in honor of the “Chancellor of Unity” (1982 to 1998).
His home town of Ludwigshafen in Rhineland-Palatinate, on the other hand, had struggled for a long time to receive posthumous recognition in public space. Shortly after his death, a plan to rename Ludwigshafen’s Rheinallee to Helmut-Kohl-Allee failed. Smaller factions in the city council felt ignored, as did residents and companies who feared disadvantages from the change of address. After controversial discussions, the city council finally approved the naming of a future city street in June 2021 in Helmut-Kohl-Allee.
Again and again there is criticism that the majority of streets and squares are named after men. However, Angela Merkel, the first woman at the head of the chancellery, only left the office last year – after the federal elections.
Source: Stern
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