Ministerrat
The Council of Ministers (German: ''Ministerrat der Deutschen Demokratischen Republik'') was the cabinet and executive branch of the German Democratic Republic from November 1950 until the country was reunified on 3 October 1990.Starcevi, Nesha (8 November 1989East German Government Resigns, Pro-Reform Marches Continuein AP News. Retrieved 30 August 2019. Originally formed as a body of 18 members, by 1989 the council consisted of 44 members. Under the Constitution of East Germany, the Council of Ministers was formally defined as the government of East Germany. The same Constitution, however, officially confirmed the leading role of the Socialist Unity Party (SED). Hence, for most of the GDR's existence, the Council of Ministers was not the highest authority in the country, but was charged with implementing the SED's policies into practical administration. In particular, ministers were subordinate to the secretary of the Central Committee responsible for their portfolio, and, at ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Council Of Ministers Of East Germany
The Council of Ministers (German: ''Ministerrat der Deutschen Demokratischen Republik'') was the cabinet and executive branch of the German Democratic Republic from November 1950 until the country was reunified on 3 October 1990.Starcevi, Nesha (8 November 1989East German Government Resigns, Pro-Reform Marches Continuein AP News. Retrieved 30 August 2019. Originally formed as a body of 18 members, by 1989 the council consisted of 44 members. Under the Constitution of East Germany, the Council of Ministers was formally defined as the government of East Germany. The same Constitution, however, officially confirmed the leading role of the Socialist Unity Party (SED). Hence, for most of the GDR's existence, the Council of Ministers was not the highest authority in the country, but was charged with implementing the SED's policies into practical administration. In particular, ministers were subordinate to the secretary of the Central Committee responsible for their portfolio, and, at l ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Alfred Neumann (East Germany)
Alfred "Ali" Neumann (15 December 1909 – 8 January 2001) was an East German politician. He was a member of the Politburo of the Central Committee of the Socialist Unity Party of Germany, and for a short time, he was East German Minister of Materials Management. Life Neumann was born in Berlin-Schöneberg and completed training as a joiner. In 1919, he joined the worker's sport club "Fichte" (" Fir" or "Spruce"), which in 1928 became a member of the "Fighting Community for Red Sport Unity" (''"Kampfgemeinschaft für Rote Sporteinheit"''; KG). Neumann became a member of the Communist Party of Germany (KPD) in 1929, and in 1930, a member of the KG state leadership. Second World War In 1933-1934 he worked together with Karl Maron illegally – for Hitler had come to power by now – for the KG. In 1934, he emigrated through Sweden and Finland to the USSR, where he worked as a sport teacher. In 1938, he was expelled from the Soviet Union as he had no Soviet citizenship, and he went ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Otto Grotewohl
Otto Emil Franz Grotewohl (; 11 March 1894 – 21 September 1964) was a German politician who served as the first prime minister of the German Democratic Republic (GDR/East Germany) from its foundation in October 1949 until his death in September 1964. Grotewohl was a Social Democratic Party (SPD) politician in the Free State of Brunswick during the Weimar Republic and leader of the party branch in the Soviet Occupation Zone after World War II. Grotewohl led the SPD's merger with the Communist Party (KPD) to form the Socialist Unity Party of Germany (SED) in 1946 and served as co-chairman of the party with KPD leader Wilhelm Pieck until 1950. Grotewohl chaired the Council of Ministers after the establishment of the GDR in 1949, and served as the ''de jure'' head of government under First Secretary Walter Ulbricht until his death in 1964. Biography Early years Grotewohl was born on 11 March 1894 in Braunschweig to a middle-class Protestant family, the son of a master tailor, a ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Werner Krolikowski
Werner Krolikowski (born 12 March 1928) is an East German political official who became a senior politician. He was a member of the Central Committee of the ruling SED (party) politburo and a deputy chairman of the national Council of Ministers. He also produced a number of political publications. Life Early years Werner Krolikowski was born into a working-class family. He trained for office work. By the time the war ended the frontier between Poland and Germany had moved west and Krolikowski, along with millions of other Germans, had also moved, the town of his birth now being part of Poland. In 1946 he joined the newly formed Socialist Unity Party of Germany (SED / ''Sozialistische Einheitspartei Deutschlands'') in the Soviet occupation zone of what was left of Germany. Party worker He worked till 1950 for the council in the Malchin district, some 75 km (40 miles) south-east of Rostock, then from 1951 till 1952 for the regional party leadership at Mecklenburg. In ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Leadership Of East Germany
The political leadership of East Germany was distributed between several offices. The Socialist Unity Party of Germany (SED) and its leader held ultimate power and authority over state and government. Prior to the proclamation of an East German state, the Soviets established the German Economic Commission (DWK) in 1948 as a de facto government in their occupation zone. Its chairman was Heinrich Rau. On 7 October 1949 an East German state, called the German Democratic Republic (GDR), was proclaimed and took over governmental functions from the DWK, largely with the same leading figures. Until autumn of 1989, the most important position in the GDR was that of the General Secretary of the (SED), titled as the First Secretary between 1953 and 1976. The formal head of state was originally the President of the German Democratic Republic. After the death of incumbent Wilhelm Pieck in 1960, the office was replaced by a collective body as head of state, the State Council. The positio ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Willi Stoph
Wilhelm Stoph (9 July 1914 – 13 April 1999) was a German politician. He served as Chairman of the Council of Ministers (Prime Minister) of the German Democratic Republic (East Germany) from 1964 to 1973, and again from 1976 until 1989. He also served as chairman of the State Council (head of state) from 1973 to 1976. Biography Stoph was born in Berlin in 1914; his father died the following year in World War I. In 1928, Stoph joined the Communist Youth League of Germany (Kommunistischer Jugendverband Deutschlands; KJVD) and in 1931 he joined the Communist Party of Germany. He was conscripted into the Wehrmacht from 1935 to 1937, and served during World War II from 1940 to 1945. He was awarded the Iron Cross 2nd Class and rose to the rank of Unteroffizier. As the war ended, according to historian Harris Lentz, "Stoph worked with the Communist-dominated Socialist Unity party and served on the party's executive committee from 1947." Following the establishment of the GDR i ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Horst Sindermann
Horst Sindermann (; 5 September 1915 – 20 April 1990) was a Communist German politician and one of the leaders of East Germany. He became Chairman of the Council of Ministers in 1973, but in 1976 he became President of the Volkskammer, the only member of the Socialist Unity Party of Germany to hold the post. Early life Sindermann was born in a traditional family in Dresden as the son of the Saxon Social Democratic politician Karl Sindermann. His older brother, Kurt Sindermann, also entered politics as a member of the Communist Party and sat on the Saxon state parliament from 1929 to 1933. Horst Sindermann joined the Communist Youth Federation ( KJVD) in 1929 and in 1932 became a local functionary in Dresden. The group was banned by the Nazi regime and in June 1933, Sindermann was arrested and condemned to eight months of imprisonment for illegal political activities. In September 1934, he became political director of the KJVD's Dresden branch. In March 1935, he agai ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Socialist Unity Party Of Germany
The Socialist Unity Party of Germany (german: Sozialistische Einheitspartei Deutschlands, ; SED, ), often known in English as the East German Communist Party, was the founding and ruling party of the German Democratic Republic (GDR; East Germany) from the country's foundation in October 1949 until its dissolution after the Peaceful Revolution in 1989. It was a Marxist–Leninist communist party, established in April 1946 as a merger between the East German branches of the Communist Party of Germany and Social Democratic Party of Germany. Although the GDR was a one-party state, some other institutional popular front parties were permitted to exist in alliance with the SED; these parties included the Christian Democratic Union, the Liberal Democratic Party, the Democratic Farmers' Party, and the National Democratic Party. In the 1980s, the SED rejected the liberalisation policies of Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev, such as '' perestroika'' and '' glasnost'', which would le ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Lothar De Maizière
Lothar de Maizière (; born 2 March 1940) is a German Christian Democratic politician. In 1990, he served as the only premier of the German Democratic Republic to be democratically elected freely and fairly by the people. He was also the last leader of an independent East Germany. Family background Maizière belongs to a noble family which takes its name from Maizières-lès-Metz who, as Huguenots, fled France for asylum in Prussia in the late 17th century; the Maizière family attended French-language schools and Huguenot churches in Berlin until the beginning of the 20th century. He is a son of the lawyer Clement de Maizière. His uncle Ulrich de Maizière was Inspector General of the ''Bundeswehr'' (the West German Armed Forces). His cousin Thomas de Maizière was a close advisor to Former Chancellor Angela Merkel and served as the Federal Minister of the Interior from 17 December 2013 to 14 March 2018 in Merkel's third cabinet. Early life and education Lothar de Maizièr ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Hans Modrow
Hans Modrow (; born 27 January 1928) is a German politician best known as the last communist premier of East Germany. Taking office in the middle of the Peaceful Revolution, he was the ''de facto'' leader of the country for much of the winter of 1989 and 1990. He was a transitional figure, paving the way to the first and only free elections in East Germany and including many opposition politicians in his cabinet. He had previously been a collaborator in the communist regime, even downplaying its role in the deaths at the Berlin Wall, and attempted to delay German reunification. After the end of Communist rule and reunification of Germany, he was convicted of electoral fraud and perjury by the Dresden District Court in 1995, on the basis that he had been the SED official nominally in charge of the electoral process. He was later convicted of abuse of office and was given a nine month suspended sentence. One of the few high-ranking former SED officials to not have been expelle ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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German Language
German ( ) is a West Germanic languages, West Germanic language mainly spoken in Central Europe. It is the most widely spoken and Official language, official or co-official language in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Liechtenstein, and the Italy, Italian province of South Tyrol. It is also a co-official language of Luxembourg and German-speaking Community of Belgium, Belgium, as well as a national language in Namibia. Outside Germany, it is also spoken by German communities in France (Bas-Rhin), Czech Republic (North Bohemia), Poland (Upper Silesia), Slovakia (Bratislava Region), and Hungary (Sopron). German is most similar to other languages within the West Germanic language branch, including Afrikaans, Dutch language, Dutch, English language, English, the Frisian languages, Low German, Luxembourgish, Scots language, Scots, and Yiddish. It also contains close similarities in vocabulary to some languages in the North Germanic languages, North Germanic group, such as Danish lan ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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1990 East German General Election
General elections were held in East Germany on 18 March 1990. They were the only free and fair parliamentary elections in the history of the country, and the first free and fair election held in that part of Germany since November 1932. The Alliance for Germany, led by the East German branch of the Christian Democratic Union, won 192 seats and emerged as the largest bloc in the 400-seat Volkskammer, having run on a platform of speedy reunification with West Germany. The East German branch of the Social Democratic Party, which had been dissolved in 1946 and refounded only six months before the elections, finished second with 88 seats. The former Socialist Unity Party of Germany, renamed the Party of Democratic Socialism, running in a free election for the first time, finished third with 66 seats. The Alliance was just short of the 201 seats needed to govern alone. Lothar de Maizière of the CDU invited the SPD to join his Alliance partners – the German Social Union (DSU) and ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |