He always dreamt that Germany would one day be reunified, and as West German foreign minister this was the goal he strove towards. In summer 1989, Hans-Dietrich Genscher made history with his announcement to refugees from what was then East Germany who had sought refuge in the West German embassy in Prague – that they were free to emigrate to the West.It was then that he realized that the Iron Curtain was about to fall. Together with then Chancellor Helmut Kohl, he paved the political way for reunification. In our portrait this week, Hans-Dietrich Genscher recalls these heady days and contemplates the state of the nation more than 20 years later.