A special friendship: Gorbachev and the Germans

Ever since reunification, Germans lovingly called Mikhail Gorbachev "Gorbi." The monument "Fathers of Unity" in front of the Springer publishing house in Berlin was unveiled on the occasion of the 20th anniversary of German reunification. Aside from Gorbachev it also honors US President George Bush and German Chancellor Helmut Kohl.

In March 1985, then-German Chancellor Helmut Kohl visited Moscow to attend the funeral of Konstantin Chernenko, General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union. Gorbachev soon took over the post. The meeting between Kohl and Gorbachev marked the beginning of the historic friendship between the two politicians that was to determine the fate of all of Europe.

After Gorbachev took over as leader of the Communist Party, former German Chancellor Willy Brandt visited Moscow. During his tenure from 1969 to 1974, the Social Democrat became the architect of a new Ostpolitik designed to normalize relations with the USSR, the GDR and other Eastern European neighbors. He received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1971 for his efforts. Gorbachev won the prize in 1990.

June 13, 1989: Gorbachev visited West Germany's then capital, Bonn. The Berlin Wall still stands, and an end to Germany's division is not in sight. Yet Germans already hailed the Soviet leader as a bringer of peace. Among Christian Democratic (CDU) voters, Gorbachev was much more popular than CDU Chancellor Helmut Kohl at the time.

Gorbachev's "perestroika" (restructuring) and "glasnost" (openness) served as a template for Leipzig's Monday demonstrations. East Germany's ruling SED party felt his new teachings were so dangerous that the Stasi secret police withdrew from circulation Soviet magazines with articles on Gorbachev.

Working out the modalities of German unity: Outdoors and clad in thick sweaters, Chancellor Helmut Kohl and Mikhail Gorbachev spun the wheel of history on July 15, 1990. Moscow was not going to stand in the way of a united Germany.

Two years later, Gorbachev was no longer Soviet leader, but he and his wife Raissa won people's hearts once again on a visit to Germany on March 6, 1992. Here, the popular couple lifted a stein at Munich's Hofbräuhaus.

Thousands of Germans wrote letters to Gorbachev, and felt as if they were writing to a good friend. "[He] was alive compared to other Soviet officials who came across as stiff as mummies," wrote Michael from Lüneburg. On September 5, 1994, Gorbachev visited Goethe's residence in Weimar.

Both German rock legend Udo Lindenberg (left) and Gorbachev were no longer at the height of their careers as the 10th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall rolled around in 1999. Yet the Russian leader with the human touch was still immensely popular in Germany.

The USSR collapsed at the end of 1991 and marked the end of Gorbachev's presidency. As early as 1992, the Gorbachev Foundation began to investigate the history of perestroika. During this new period of his life, Gorbachev regularly traveled to Germany. In 1996, the Gorbachev couple were guests of Thomas Gottschalk on the legendary German television show "Wetten, dass ...."