A German court has rejected an attempt by Helmut Kohl to stop a controversial biography of the former Chancellor from being published.<br /><br />In “Legacy: the Kohl Protocols” he is less than flattering about world figures such as the current German leader Angela Merkel and former Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev.<br /><br />The 84-year-old, now partially paralysed, launched a new version of his autobiography this week. He has long tried to stop the unauthorised book from seeing the light of day.<br /><br />A spokesman for the publishers said their stance had been reaffirmed by the court’s decision.<br /><br />The biography quotes Kohl as saying his then protegee, the young Angela Merkel, couldn’t eat properly with a knife and fork, and had to be told to “pull herself together” after hanging around at state dinners”.<br /><br />Gorbachev’s legacy is called into question beyond calling time on Communism, “partly against his will”. <br /><br />Kohl, in power when the Berlin Wall fell 25 years ago, also cautions against overestimating the role of civil rights activists in the subsequent German reunification. <br /><br />The book is based on hundreds of interviews recorded with the journalist Heribert Schwan in the early 2000s.<br /><br />Late last year a court ruled in Kohl’s favour over the interview tapes. But Schwan appealed against the decision and was able to prepare transcripts before handing the recordings back. <br /><br />Excerpts of the book have been published online in the German magazine “Der Spiegel”.
