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It is probably one of THE pictures that will be remembered of Mikhail Gorbachev: On October 7, 1989, after his arrival at the celebrations for the 40th anniversary of the GDR in East Berlin, the head of state and party leader was greeted by the head of the State Council, Erich Honecker welcomed with the traditional fraternal kiss.
Photo: Wolfgang Kumm/ picture alliance/ dpa
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Gorbachev died in Moscow on Tuesday evening at the age of 91.
The world-renowned politician is considered one of the fathers of German unity and a pioneer for the end of the Cold War.
Here he is in 1987: He puts the INF Treaty into force together with US President Ronald Reagan.
Photo: United Archives International/ imago images
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In 1990, Gorbachev received the Nobel Peace Prize for his courageous reforms in his homeland.
He is pictured here with then-Chancellor Helmut Kohl – the two politicians signing the German Unity Treaty in Moscow.
Photo: imago stock&people / imago images/Sven Simon
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One day after he resumed his duties, on August 23, 1991, Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev presented himself to the Russian parliament.
In this year, more and more Soviet republics break away from Moscow.
As a result, Gorbachev resigned as president on December 25.
Photo: AFP / picture alliance / dpa
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In November 2009, Gorbachev is standing next to a bust modeled after him in the Axel Springer House in Berlin.
East Germans in particular revere him to this day as the statesman who brought them freedom more than three decades ago.
Photo: A3498 Marcel Mettelsiefen/ dpa
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In February 2011, Chancellor Angela Merkel visited a photo exhibition about Gorbachev's life in Berlin's Kennedy Museum together with Gorbachev on the occasion of his 80th birthday.
Gorbachev wrote numerous books - most recently also about his disappointment with the Germans and the West.
Photo: Jesco Denzel/ dpa
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Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier and Mikhail Gorbachev at a meeting in October 2017 at the residence of the German ambassador in Moscow.
On the 30th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall, Steinmeier thanked Gorbachev in a letter: "We will not forget that the miracle of the peaceful reunification of my country and the end of the division of Europe would not have been possible without the courageous and humane decisions that you personally made at the time hit."
Photo: Bernd von Jutrczenka/ dpa
