The fall of the Berlin Wall saved him back then. He was facing internal opposition that wanted to get rid of him as party leader and given the economic situatio

The fall of the Berlin Wall saved him back then. He was facing internal opposition that wanted to get rid of him as party leader and given the economic situation people believed he would not win the next federal election either. Then history happened and he grabbed the opportunity to become the father of modern Germany. Regarding your point about populism and lack of political platform: apparently conservatives back then embraced at least right wing populism and only as everyone tried to become more centrist, the new generation of populists became relevant.