The Liberal Democratic Party of Germany (german: Liberal-Demokratische Partei Deutschlands, LDPD) was a
political party
A political party is an organization that coordinates candidates to compete in a particular country's elections. It is common for the members of a party to hold similar ideas about politics, and parties may promote specific ideological or p ...
in
East Germany
East Germany, officially the German Democratic Republic (GDR; german: Deutsche Demokratische Republik, , DDR, ), was a country that existed from its creation on 7 October 1949 until German reunification, its dissolution on 3 October 1990. In t ...
. Like the other allied
bloc parties of the
Socialist Unity Party of Germany (SED) in the
National Front, it had 52 representatives in the
People's Chamber.
Foundation
The history of the party dates back to 16 June 1945, when a Berlin-based group led by
Waldemar Koch and his father-in-law
Eugen Schiffer
Eugen Schiffer (14 February 1860 – 5 September 1954) was a German lawyer and liberal politician. He served as Minister of Finance and deputy head of government from February to April 1919. From October 1919 to March 1920, he was again deputy h ...
took the initiative in refounding the Weimar-era ''
German Democratic Party
The German Democratic Party (, or DDP) was a center-left liberal party in the Weimar Republic. Along with the German People's Party (, or DVP), it represented political liberalism in Germany between 1918 and 1933. It was formed in 1918 from the ...
''.
Koch was elected chair of the founding committee, with
Wilhelm Külz
Wilhelm Külz (18 February 1875 – 10 April 1948) was a German liberal politician of the National Liberal Party, the German Democratic Party (DDP) and later the Liberal Democratic Party of Germany (LDPD). He held public office both in the Germa ...
as his deputy; the writer
Franz Xaver Kappus joined the board as well.
At first there were some conversations about forming a united centre-right democratic party with the Christian Democrats, but the idea was abandoned soon and the name was changed to Liberal Democratic Party ("Liberal-Demokratische Partei", LDP)
before the party's official founding on 5 July 1946.
It was first of all aimed at uniting
Weimar Republic
The Weimar Republic (german: link=no, Weimarer Republik ), officially named the German Reich, was the government of Germany from 1918 to 1933, during which it was a Constitutional republic, constitutional federal republic for the first time in ...
-era members of the
German Democratic Party
The German Democratic Party (, or DDP) was a center-left liberal party in the Weimar Republic. Along with the German People's Party (, or DVP), it represented political liberalism in Germany between 1918 and 1933. It was formed in 1918 from the ...
,
German People's Party and
German National People's Party
The German National People's Party (german: Deutschnationale Volkspartei, DNVP) was a national-conservative party in Germany during the Weimar Republic. Before the rise of the Nazi Party, it was the major conservative and nationalist party in Wei ...
. Unlike the East German
Christian Democratic Union (CDU), the Liberal Democratic Party was firmly for private ownership and opposed to
nationalization
Nationalization (nationalisation in British English) is the process of transforming privately-owned assets into public assets by bringing them under the public ownership of a national government or state. Nationalization usually refers to p ...
of important private enterprises. Among the new
anti-fascist
Anti-fascism is a political movement in opposition to fascist ideologies, groups and individuals. Beginning in European countries in the 1920s, it was at its most significant shortly before and during World War II, where the Axis powers wer ...
parties, Liberal Democratic Party was the most
anti-communist
Anti-communism is political and ideological opposition to communism. Organized anti-communism developed after the 1917 October Revolution in the Russian Empire, and it reached global dimensions during the Cold War, when the United States and the ...
at the time.
After internal fighting and under pressure from Soviet authorities, Koch was replaced with the more pliable Wilhelm Külz in November 1945.
In
the last free election, in 1946, the Liberal Democrats finished third, behind the SED and the CDU. At the end of 1948, during the culmination of their opposition to the SED seizure of power, the LDP had more than 200,000 members, 23% of whom were younger than 25.
Unification attempts
In July 1946 the LDP and the liberal parties in the Western Zones founded a joint Coordination committee with the aim of forming an All-Germany liberal party (''
Demokratische Partei Deutschlands'', DPD). The founding of the Democratic Party of Germany began with a conference in
Rothenburg ob der Tauber on 17 March 1947.
Wilhelm Külz
Wilhelm Külz (18 February 1875 – 10 April 1948) was a German liberal politician of the National Liberal Party, the German Democratic Party (DDP) and later the Liberal Democratic Party of Germany (LDPD). He held public office both in the Germa ...
and
Theodor Heuss (representing Western liberals) acted as co-chairmen. Such undertakings failed quickly, owing to Külz's participation in the
SED-sponsored
German People's Congress for Unity and Just Peace.
The failure of unification became imminent when at a session of the united leadership of DPD that took part on 18 January 1948 and which Külz refused to attend,
Theodor Heuss argued that the Liberal Democrats' unwillingness to take any measures against Külz proved their commitment to 'the Russian conception of German unity'. Arthur Lieutenant, the spokesman of LDP on the matter, declared that under those circumstances and concerning reproaches laid against East German liberals, any co-operation had been made impossible.
A ''Blockpartei''
After 1949, it shared the same fate as the other legal East German parties. As a
bloc party
Bloc Party are an English rock band, composed of Kele Okereke (lead vocals, rhythm guitar, keyboards, sampler), Russell Lissack (lead guitar, keyboards), Justin Harris (bass guitar, keyboards, saxophones, backing vocals) and Louise Bartle ...
(''Blockpartei'') of the
National Front it jettisoned its original ideology, acting as a "helpmeet" to the Communist
Socialist Unity Party of Germany (SED). Another bloc party, the
National Democratic Party of Germany (NDPD), appealed to almost the same social groups. In October 1951, the LDP was ordered to add the "D" for "Germany" (Deutschland) into its name in order to serve the SED's all-German propaganda of that time.
LDPD member
Johannes Dieckmann
Johannes Dieckmann (19 January 1893 – 22 February 1969) was a German journalist and politician who served as the 1st acting president of the parliament of East Germany from 1949 to 1969.
Early life
Dieckmann was born in Fischerhude in the Pr ...
was the chairman of the Volkskammer from 1949 to 1969, and as such was ex officio vice president of the GDR during that time.
The central newspaper of LDPD used to be the daily ''
Der Morgen
''Der Morgen'' (''The Morning'') was a daily newspaper published in the GDR. ''Der Morgen'' was the central organ of the Liberal Democratic Party of Germany. It was published from 3 August 1945 on, six times a week. The premises of the first i ...
'' ("The Morning").
Manfred Gerlach
Manfred Gerlach (8 May 1928 – 17 October 2011) was a German jurist and politician, and the longtime leader of the East German Liberal Democratic Party. He served as ''Chairman of the Council of State'' and was thus head of state of East ...
was the Chairman of the Liberal Democratic Party from 1967 to his resignation in 1990. Gerlach had initially been a loyal partner of the SED, but began moving toward a more independent line in the 1980s. At an extraordinary party congress held 9–10 February 1990 in
Dresden
Dresden (, ; Upper Saxon: ''Dräsdn''; wen, label= Upper Sorbian, Drježdźany) is the capital city of the German state of Saxony and its second most populous city, after Leipzig. It is the 12th most populous city of Germany, the fourth ...
it returned to genuine liberal policies and dropped "of Germany" from its name. On 12 February 1990 it joined the
Association of Free Democrats, which finally merged into the
Free Democratic Party (FDP) on 11 August 1990.
Foreign contacts
The LDPD had contacts with other (nominally) liberal parties in the Communist bloc:
Polish Democratic Party (Stronnictwo Demokratyczne, SD), the
Czechoslovak Socialist Party (Československá strana socialistická, CSS), the
Democratic Party of Vietnam and the
Korean Democratic Party
The Korean Social Democratic Party (KSDP) is a political party in North Korea, allied with the ruling Workers' Party of Korea. It was formed on 3 November 1945 as the Korean Democratic Party by a diverse group of medium and small entrepreneurs ...
(Chõson Sahoeminjudang, CS). The Liberal Democratic Party of GDR also had some contacts with the West German
FDP; in the 1960s and 1970s, there was limited communication, but relations improved in the 1980s.
[Peter Joachim Lapp ''Die "befreundeten Parteien" der SED'', 1988, pp. 108-109.]
Electoral history
Volkskammer elections
See also
*
Liberalism
Liberalism is a Political philosophy, political and moral philosophy based on the Individual rights, rights of the individual, liberty, consent of the governed, political equality and equality before the law."political rationalism, hostilit ...
*
Contributions to liberal theory
Contribution or Contribute may refer to:
* ''Contribution'' (album), by Mica Paris (1990)
** "Contribution" (song), title song from the album
*Contribution (law), an agreement between defendants in a suit to apportion liability
*Contributions, a ...
*
Liberalism worldwide
*
List of liberal parties
*
Liberal democracy
Liberal democracy is the combination of a liberal political ideology that operates under an indirect democratic form of government. It is characterized by elections between multiple distinct political parties, a separation of powers into ...
*
Liberalism in Germany
*
Günter Stempel
Günter Stempel (17 November 1908 – 22 October 1981) was a German politician ( LDPD). He was involved in the formation of the German Democratic Republic (GDR), despite which he was a victim of political repression in both the GDR and the USS ...
References
External links
Liberal Democratic Party of Germany from ''Chronik der Wende''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Liberal Democratic Party Of Germany
1946 establishments in Germany
1990 disestablishments in East Germany
Germany 1946
Defunct political parties in Germany
Free Democratic Party (Germany)
Political parties disestablished in 1990
Political parties established in 1946
Political parties in East Germany