CHANCELLOR Helmut Kohl's announcement last week that he will seek a fifth term in office next year was greeted by his political allies as a welcome fillip for Europe's planned single currency.
But ordinary Germans were less enthusiastic, and Dr Kohl's Christian Democrats continue to trail the opposition Social Democrats in opinion polls.
Most Germans would prefer the Chancellor to step down next year, according to a poll in the current issue of the weekly newspaper Die Zeit. And despite Dr Kohl's unrivalled stature abroad, he has never truly won the hearts of his own people.
Even his most loyal lieutenant, CDU parliamentary leader, Wolfgang Schauble, sounded cautious this week when he defended the Chancellor's decision to seek a new term.
"Weighing up the advantages and disadvantages, I am convinced that we can effect more necessary changes in this country and in Europe with Helmut Kohl than with anyone else. That's why it is the right decision," he said.
Dr Kohl's declaration that he will stand again next year was made from a position of almost unprecedented political weakness. As recently as three months ago, while members of the Chancellor's centre right coalition bickered openly, most German commentators were predicting the imminent end of the Kohl era.
The Chancellor takes little interest in domestic issues, preferring to devote his energies to his pet project of European economic and political integration and to enhancing Germany's role on the world stage.
He likes to boast about the number of heads of state Bonn receives each year, more than any other capital except Washington. And he is determined that, before he leaves office, Germany will finally have shaken off the stigma of its Nazi past to become a respected member of the Western alliance on an equal footing with its former second World War foes.
Dr Kohl's problem is that, although Germans trust him to protect their interests abroad, they are more interested in solving growing problems at home. With unemployment at a post war high of nearly five million and bankruptcies at record levels, the Chancellor's international ambitions strike many ordinary Germans as distractions from the real issues affecting their lives.
Few Germans are keen to abandon the social market model that has produced great prosperity since the 1950s but most accept the need to reform it.
Although Dr Kohl has shown courage and flair in his approach to great questions such as German unification and the future of Europe, he tends to shy away from confrontation on domestic economic issues.
Dr Kohl was born in Ludwigshafen in the Rhineland-Palatinate in 1930, the youngest son of a minor tax official who had served in a mounted artillery regiment in the first World War.
He once described his background as "Catholic but nonetheless liberal - and moderately nationalist". This probably remains the closest Dr Kohl has come to outlining his own political philosophy.
Dr Kohl was too young to serve in the second World War but his older brother died in action in 1944 and the experience of the war had a profound impact on his political formation and his commitment to the vision of a Europe united in peace.
A founder member of the youth wing of the Christian Democrats in 1946, Dr Kohl has spent his entire adult life in politics, serving as prime minister of the Rhineland Palatinate from 1969 until he moved to Bonn in 1976.
Loyal to his allies but notoriously slow to forgive those who offend him, he has ruled the Christian Democrats with an almost obsessive grip since becoming party leader in 1973.
Gifted with an unusually acute memory for names and faces, Dr Kohl frequently surprises party officials with his grasp of the minutiae of business in individual CDU branches.
Aides say that he knows the name of every porter and librarian in the Bundestag and remembers every secretary's birthday but most of his staff have been exposed at least once to his ferocious temper.
Despite an annual fasting holiday, the 19-stone Chancellor's weight has increased every year since he took office and he shows no sign of changing his lifestyle.
He munches on sweets during Bundestag debates and tucks into a hot snack before heading off to state banquets. He published a book of his favourite recipes last year, including one for stuffed pig's stomach which is often served up to visiting heads of government.
Few successful politicians have been so protective of their private life as Dr Kohl, who stayed away from his son's wedding last year to spare the happy couple unwelcome press attention.
Although the Chancellor's wife, Hannelore, performs some public duties and accompanies her husband to major state events, she spends almost all her time away from Bonn at the family home in Ludwigshafen.
Dr Kohl took the unusual step of making a public statement about his health earlier this year, denying rumours that he had undergone secret operations for cancer.
Most Germans want Gerhard Schroder, the Eurosceptic Prime Minister of Lower Saxony, to challenge Dr Kohl next year on behalf of the Social Democrats. Mr Schroeder is almost alone among mainstream German politicians in his willingness to challenge the political consensus on Europe.
Although he stops short of outright opposition to the single currency, he has called for the project to be postponed. Two thirds of Germans oppose abandoning the Deutschmark for the euro and Mr Schroeder is eager to make the currency the central election issue next year.
Opinion polls consistently show that Mr Schroder would defeat Dr Kohl in an election; Christian Democrat strategists acknowledge that he is the only challenger the Chancellor truly fears.
In Mr Schroder, the Social Democrats could offer a dynamic alternative to the Chancellor's domestic inertia. Unhampered by ideology (or political principle, according to detractors), Mr Schroder is willing to work with business to make German industry more flexible and competitive.
Although his Eurosceptic views are unpopular among Social Democrats, a Schroder government would undoubtedly slow down the pace of European integration.
Dr Kohl's announcement that he will seek another term in office has made it more likely that the Social Democrats will choose Mr Schroeder as their candidate. If the Chancellor's popularity does not improve during the next 18 months, he could face a double defeat next year - an ignominious end to his record breaking political career and the derailment of his cherished project of European unity.
