German political leader Helmut Kohl was educated at the Universities of Frankfurt and Heidelberg. He received a Doctorate in Political Science. He eventually became active in politics and in 1959 was elected as a member of the state Parliament. In 1976 he joined the Bundestag, as the Chairman of the Christian Democratic Union. After serving as the leader of the opposition, he became Prime Minister in 1982. With the fall of the Berlin Wall, Kohl moved quickly to implement the reunification of Germany under the West German Constitution.