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Abstract
This article analyses the manner in which Helmut Kohl modernised a traditional party of Honoratioren in the Rheinland‐Palatinate. Four main transformations accomplished this: the renewal of party elite, the construction of a strong party apparatus with a high number of members, the renewal of the party programme, and the strategic alliance with the FDP. These transformations, carried out by Kohl at the Land level in the mid‐1960s, were applied at the federal level after 1973 when he was elected CDU president. They have been constants in his leadership ever since. A close look at Kohl's career in Mainz sheds light not only on his past but also on his present and on his future.