Relations between former French president Jacques Chirac and German chancellor Gerhard Schroeder were particularly strong and the two forged a united front against the U.S.-led war in Iraq.

VOA: standard.2009.11.11

The appointment of a former German chancellor, immediately after leaving office, to the lucrative chairmanship of a Russian-German energy firm would have seemed fancifully scandalous until recently, when it happened.

ECONOMIST: European energy

The remains of 130, 000 unidentified soldiers are kept in the ossuary at Douaumont, near Verdun, but disagreement on how the remains should be dealt with meant Douaumont was not officially inaugurated until three years ago, in a ceremony attended by the late President Mitterrand and the former German chancellor, Helmut Kohl.

ECONOMIST: The world��s way of death

The president of the German Bundesbank, Jens Weidmann - a former economic adviser to Chancellor Merkel, and an increasingly influential player in the eurozone crisis - has been indicating the kind of bargain Germany would demand.

BBC: Germany v France: The eurozone's next big battle?