German leaders have commended the late Foreign Minister Hans-Dietrich Genscher. From Gorbachev to Kissinger, leaders from across the globe also paid their respects to one of modern Germany's pivotal figures.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/J. Woitas
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The current head of the Free Democratic Party (FDP), Genscher's former party, was among the first to respond on Friday following the announcement of the former foreign minister's death.
"We are thankful for his political life's work, which he performed in the service of German and European unity, as well as the liberal ideas of freedom and progress," Christian Lindner said.
President Joachim Gauck called Genscher "an outstanding personality in the history of our country."
"With his reliability and his diplomatic skills, Hans-Dietrich Genscher gave our country a face in the world and helped to strengthen the confidence of our partners," Gauck added.
Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier praised his predecessor as a great German and a great European.
"During his long and active life, Genscher literally wrote history, the history of our country, of Germany, as well as the history of Europe," Steinmeier said. "The end of the division of Germany and of Europe was for him a lifelong task."
How Hans-Dietrich Genscher's birth house was rescued from demolition
The former German foreign minister was born near Halle. His birth house was nearly demolished. Now it houses an exhibition dedicated to unity in Germany and Europe, as a tribute to his politics of reconciliation.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/J.Wolf
Genscher: The early days
Germany 's former Foreign Minister Hans-Dietrich Genscher passed away in his home in Bonn on Friday (01.04.2016), aged 89. The politician, who would later play a pivotal role in German reunification, was born in this house in eastern Germany on March 21, 1927. What was then the town of Reideburg was later incorporated into the city of Halle, near Leipzig.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/J.Woitas
Forgotten place
Genscher's birth house is located at Schönnewitzer Strasse 9a. It belonged to his uncle, and had been built in the mid-1860s in late-classical style. He lived in it for six years, before his family moved to nearby Halle, where he would attend school and university. Genscher would follow in his father's footsteps and pursue law. In the years after the Genschers left, the house fell into decay.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/W.Grubitzsch
Childhood memories
Pictured is Genscher's childhood bedroom in his birth house in Reideburg-Halle as is looked in 2007. After World War II, Halle became part of communist East Germany. However, Genscher left for Bremen in the West in 1952, before the Berlin Wall was built and the border could still be crossed. It was in Bremen that he finished his law degree.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/J.Wolf
After reunification
After German reunification, Genscher returned to his hometown many times. He is pictured at his birth house in 1993. Also in that year, he invited former US Secretary of State, Henry Kissinger, to Halle. "Henry Kissinger liked to say yes back then because he thought it wouldn't work out anyways," Genscher told "Berliner Morgenpost" in 2009. "I was serious," he said of his invitation.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/W.Grubitzsch
Always there
Even when he wasn't there, he was still there. Genscher's presence in Halle was constantly felt. In 1999, designer Steffen Müller and graphic designer Andreas Gülzow created this 120-centimeter image of the former foreign minister and positioned it in the window of a house just adjacent to his birth house.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/W. Grubitzsch
Wrecking balls at the ready
After standing empty for years, Genscher's birth house was approved for demolition in 2006, the year this photo was taken. Cornelia Pieper, then head of Genscher's political party, the Free Democratic Party (FDP) in the state of Saxony-Anhalt, heard about it and decided to rescue the house. The plan was to turn it into a symbol of German unity.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/W.Grubitzsch
Getting a facelift
FDP politician Cornelia Pieper gathered funds from the Erhard Hübener Foundation - an organization dedicated to political liberalism in the state of Saxony-Anhalt - and the Saxony-Anhalt Lottery, among others. The house, pictured here in 2008, was fully renovated at a cost of around 600,000 euros ($681,000).
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/J.Wolf
Grand opening
Genscher's newly renovated birth house was inaugurated on September 11, 2009. Cornelia Pieper is pictured to the right. To the left of Hans-Dieter Genscher is Germany's former Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle, also from the FDP, who just recently passed away on March 18 after battling leukemia.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/J.Wolf
Celebration of unity
As of 2012, Genscher's birth house houses a permanent exhibition called "Unity in Freedom." It includes exhibits and information on the history of liberalism in Germany, the division of the country after World War II, the peaceful revolution in the communist East and reunification in 1990, and the expansion of the EU. In office from 1982-1992, Genscher was instrumental in reunification.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/J.Wolf
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'I have lost a friend'
Outside of Germany, French Foreign Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault honored Genscher as "one of the architects of German reunification, who left his mark on this important chapter in European history with his political and humanitarian qualities."
Former US Secretary of State Henry Kissinger said Genscher "played a special role in the reunification of Germany, the construction of the EU and the development of a peaceful international order."
"I'll miss a valued and long-standing friend," Kissinger said.
Meanwhile, former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev said he "lost a friend" with the passing of Genscher.
"People say that you cannot have any friends in politics," Gorbachev said. "That's not true … Hans-Dietrich Genscher was my real friend in recent years. I have lost a friend."
A 'superhero' diplomat
German diplomats around the world also paid tribute to the late statesman, including Peter Wittig, ambassador to the US, Peter Prügel, ambassador to Thailand and Walter J. Lindner, ambassador to South Africa.
Known for his relentless diplomacy throughout the Cold War, Genscher was characterized as a Batman-like superhero by a German cartoonist in the 80s.
