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Former German chancellor Kohl marries partner

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Former German chancellor Kohl marries partner
Kohl and Richter chat at an event in January. Photo: DPA

Former German chancellor Helmut Kohl, 78, married his partner Maike Richter, 44, in a private ceremony last week, his Berlin office announced on Tuesday.

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"We are very happy," the couple said in brief statement issued out of Kohl's office in Berlin.

The wedding took place on May 8 in the Heidelberg clinic in which Kohl has been undergoing treatment after a severe fall in his home in Ludwigshafen in February.

Kohl's first wife, Hannelore, committed suicide in summer 2001 after suffering from a severe allergy to light for several years. The couple married in 1960 and had two sons, Walter and Peter.

Richter, an economist at the German Economy Ministry, has not been married before. She plans to change her name to Kohl-Richter.

Kohl's condition is improving, according to his office, but his representatives would not say when he would be released from the hospital.

Kohl's 16 years in office - from 1982 to 1998 - made him the longest-serving chancellor in post-World War II Germany.

dpa/ddp

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