London, May 15: Former German Chancellor Helmut Kohl has married a woman 35 years his junior in a ceremony at the hospital where he has been undergoing treatment since February.

Kohl, 78, who oversaw the reunification of Germany in 1990, married Maike Richter, a 44-year-old economist, last week at a hospital in Heidelberg in the presence of close friends.

"We are very happy," the couple said in a statement.

The new Mrs Kohl, 44, used to work at the economics ministry and got to know Mr Kohl, who was Germany’s premier between 1982 and 1998, when she helped him write his memoirs. They have been in a relationship since 2005, The Telegraph reports.

Kohl's first wife Hannelore committed suicide in 2001 at the age of 68, overdosing on sleeping tablets after suffering from a skin disease that made her sensitive to daylight and forced her to remain indoors.

His new wife has taken leave from her job to be at her husband's side in hospital. (ANI)