West Germany: An Imperishable Place

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Toward new Chancellor Kiesinger, Adenauer was more kindly disposed. Kiesinger moved to tighten ties with France and, in Adenauer's view, acted a little more aloof from Washington. These were policies that followed der Alte's own counsel; trust in the wisdom of others was never one of Adenauer's virtues. That the changing nature of Communism in Europe, and of Europe itself, might be outrunning his own concept of Realpolitik did not seem to have occurred to him. But then, it hardly mattered. Adenauer's certainty of purpose at a time when Germany most needed it had already earned him an imperishable place in history.