被德国误解的“统一总理”科尔

With hindsight I should have seen it coming. My question to Helmut Kohl was pretty straightforward: how healthy was it for a democracy to have one party with one leader seemingly hell-bent on staying in power forever? The location was a stuffy barn in the grounds of a dreamy priory in Bavaria where the grandees of Germany’s ruling centre-right parties had gathered to agree an electoral pact for an unprecedented fifth term in office. I had recently broken my collarbone, so my arm was in a sling. And it was this that gave the German chancellor the ammunition for a gruff, quick-witted response: “Looking at you I’d say that you’re the one with the health issues round here.” Cue laughter and one red-faced young correspondent.

事后看来，我本该预见到这种结果的。我提给赫尔穆特•科尔(Helmut Kohl)的问题相当直接：一个政党的领导人似乎执意永远掌权，对于一个民主国家而言是否健康?采访地点是在巴伐利亚州一个梦幻般的修道院庭院上一个装满粮食的谷仓，德国执政的中右翼政党的重要人物齐聚在这里，就史无前例的第五任任期的选举协议达成一致。我当时弄伤了锁骨，因此我的胳膊跨在胸前。这给这位德国总理做出不客气但睿智的回应提供了口实：“看着你，我想说，你才是那个有健康问题的人。”此言引发众人大笑，还有一个脸红的年轻记者。

Here was a consummate political operator at the top of his game and well-used to crushing much bigger obstacles in his path. At that time — the summer of 1997 — Kohl had been in office for almost 15 years and was the pre-eminent force in European politics — the man who, having delivered German unification, went on to be the driving force of continental integration.

他是一个炉火纯青的政治操盘手，那时处于登峰造极的境界，习惯于粉碎在他面前的道路上大得多的障碍。当时(1997年夏季)，科尔已执政近15年，是欧洲政界一位首屈一指的人物，这位带来德国统一的人，继续推动着欧洲一体化。

Yet a year later Kohl and his Christian Democrats were voted out of office. The result was a stinging rebuke for Kohl, who died last week. But by then he had already long secured his place in the history books as the “unification chancellor”.

然而，一年后，科尔及其领导的基民盟(CDU)下台。这个结果对科尔是一种无情的批评;他在上周去世。但当时，他早就确保了自己在史册上的“统一总理”地位。

It seems strange to recall now, but before the fall of the Berlin Wall in November 1989 Kohl was actually in a tight spot. The German press was brimming with talk of a party coup that would see the provincial bumpkin, noted for his appetite for generous helpings of Saumagen (pig stomach) , replaced by any number of more urbane rivals whose names no one now remembers. Many Germans saw Kohl as a bit of an embarrassment.

现在回忆起来有点奇怪，但在1989年11月柏林墙倒塌之前，科尔实际上正处于困境。德国媒体充斥着党派政变的传言，称科尔这个乡巴佬(以爱吃德式灌猪肚肠大餐闻名)将被更像城里人的竞争对手取代(现在没有人记得这些人的姓名)。很多德国人当时认为科尔让他们难为情。

The fact that he had a PhD in history and the sharp elbows of a politician who had fought his way up from the grassroots may have been lost along the way. He was the butt of jokes; his imposing physical presence earned him the nickname Birne — pear. His government’s policies were sound, if uninspiring. The idea that such a figure would emerge as the driving force of unification seemed implausible to say the least.

科尔拥有历史学博士学位，他是一位精明的政治人物，从最底层一路打拼上来，这些可能都渐渐被人抛在脑后。他成为了笑柄;他的硕大体型使他得到了“梨子”的绰号。他领导的政府的政策是稳健的，即便不能振奋人心。有关他将成为统一推动力的想法，说的客气一点似乎是令人难以置信的。

How wrong we were. Whether criss-crossing East Germany — where rallies would end with him leading the crowd in singing the national anthem, the words of which many of those present did not know — or cajoling the international powers to endorse unification, Kohl was an ever-present force.

那时我们错得多么离谱。无论是在东德奔走动员——那里的集会总是以他带领人群唱国歌结束，而在场的许多人不知道歌词——还是说服各大国支持统一，科尔都是一股无时不在的力量。

Much of what we would now called the metropolitan liberal elite was horrified at the speed and manner of the whole affair. The sudden eruption of patriotic feeling in a country that until then had felt uneasy about its identity was deeply unsettling. But as they wrung their hands, Kohl ploughed on. It all culminated in a slightly chaotic ceremony of unification in front of the Reichstag in October 1990.

我们现在会称为大都会自由主义精英的人，当时大多对整件事的进展速度和方式感到恐惧。在一个直到不久前还对自己的身份认同感到不安的国家，突然爆发的爱国情感令人深感不安。但在这些精英焦虑的背景下，科尔坚定推进。1990年10月在国会大厦前一场略显混乱的统一仪式，为这一切画上了句号。

In less than 11 months after the breaching of the Berlin Wall the division of Germany and Europe had been overcome, the second world war formally brought to an end.

在柏林墙倒塌后不到11个月，德国乃至欧洲的分裂就被弥合，第二次世界大战正式宣告终结。

Along the way Kohl displayed a disregard for economics that was remarkable, refreshing and, arguably, right. There was a small window in which to achieve unification and he took it, putting politics ahead of the concerns of the hand-wringing chart merchants. Yes, the result was costly. But from a national perspective it was worth every pfennig.

在整个过程中，科尔展现出一种对经济面的无视——非同凡响、别具一格的，也可以说是正确的。实现统一只有一线机会，而他抓住了这个机会，将政治置于那些焦虑不安地看着图表的人的担忧之上。没错，结果代价高昂。但从国家的视角看，这钱花得值。

Germany today is quite different to the country that Kohl found when he became chancellor in 1982. It is more liberal and outgoing, a world away from the politically restrained, self-doubting West Germany of the early 1980s. But it is also one that he made possible.

今天的德国与1982年科尔出任总理时的德国截然不同。今天的德国更加自由派和外向，与上世纪80年代初政治气氛压抑、自我怀疑的西德有着天壤之别。但今天的格局也是科尔帮助塑造的。

It is poignant that his death came on the eve of the start of negotiations between the UK and its EU partners over Brexit — a direct repudiation of the greater integration of Europe that Kohl championed. Yet at the same time Brexit, combined with the election of Emmanuel Macron, has spurred speculation of a revived Franco-German motor at the heart of Europe. The French president is said to be keen to emulate his predecessor François Mitterrand. It remains to be seen whether Angela Merkel, Kohl’s successor, is quite as enthusiastic.

令人伤怀的是，科尔离世之时，正是英国和其欧盟伙伴即将就英国退欧展开谈判前夕——而英国退欧是对科尔支持的欧洲一体化的直接否定。然而，在英国退欧的同时，埃马纽埃尔•马克龙(Emmanuel Macron)当选法国总统，促使人们猜测法德两国将再次成为欧洲的核心驱动力。据称马克龙热切希望效仿前任弗朗索瓦•密特朗(François Mitterrand)。科尔的后继者安格拉•默克尔(Angela Merkel)是否也怀着同样的热情，仍有待观察。