Bundesarchiv Bild 183-1990-1014-304, Gotha, Landtagswahl, Josef Duchac

State Commissioner (german: Landesbevollmächtigter) was the title for the provisional

heads of government The head of government is the highest or the second-highest official in the executive branch of a sovereign state, a federated state, or a self-governing colony, autonomous region, or other government who often presides over a cabinet, a gro ...

of the

New states of Germany The new states of Germany () are the five re-established states of the former German Democratic Republic (GDR) that unified with the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG) with its 10 states upon German reunification on 3 October 1990. The new st ...

shortly after

reunification A political union is a type of political entity which is composed of, or created from, smaller polities, or the process which achieves this. These smaller polities are usually called federated states and federal territories in a federal governm ...

German reunification German reunification (german: link=no, Deutsche Wiedervereinigung) was the process of re-establishing Germany as a united and fully sovereign state, which took place between 2 May 1989 and 15 March 1991. The day of 3 October 1990 when the Ge ...

took effect on 3 October 1990, when the

German Democratic Republic German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ger ...

joined the

Federal Republic of Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated between ...

as five re-established states. However, elections for the state governments of these five states took place on 14 October 1990 and the

Landtag A Landtag (State Diet) is generally the legislative assembly or parliament of a federated state or other subnational self-governing entity in German-speaking nations. It is usually a unicameral assembly exercising legislative competence in non- ...

of these states elected the respective Minister-Presidents from late October to early November. Between the reunification and the election of the respective Minister-President, appointed state commissioner took on the role of heads of government, as stipulated by the German Reunification Treaty. These state commissioner also represented their respective state in the Bundesrat, but only had an advisory vote. They had been appointed by Minister-President of the GDR

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 ...

on 3 August 1990 as ''Landessprecher'' ( en, State Speaker). Most state commissioners had previously served as ''Regierungsbevollmächtigte'' for one of the ''Bezirke'' of the GDR that would later be re-organized to the New states; Brick for

Neubrandenburg Neubrandenburg (lit. ''New Brandenburg'', ) is a city in the southeast of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Germany. It is located on the shore of a lake called Tollensesee and forms the urban centre of the Mecklenburg Lakeland. The city is famous for its ...

, Wolf for

Potsdam Potsdam () is the capital and, with around 183,000 inhabitants, largest city of the German state of Brandenburg. It is part of the Berlin/Brandenburg Metropolitan Region. Potsdam sits on the River Havel, a tributary of the Elbe, downstream of B ...

, Krause for

Leipzig Leipzig ( , ; Upper Saxon: ) is the most populous city in the German state of Saxony. Leipzig's population of 605,407 inhabitants (1.1 million in the larger urban zone) as of 2021 places the city as Germany's eighth most populous, as wel ...

and Duchač for

Erfurt Erfurt () is the capital and largest city in the Central German state of Thuringia. It is located in the wide valley of the Gera river (progression: ), in the southern part of the Thuringian Basin, north of the Thuringian Forest. It sits i ...

. There was some political controversy as to which ''Regierungsbevollmächtigter'' would become ''Landessprecher''. Except for Karl-Hermann Steinberg, who was revealed to have worked for the East German

Stasi The Ministry for State Security, commonly known as the (),An abbreviation of . was the Intelligence agency, state security service of the East Germany from 1950 to 1990. The Stasi's function was similar to the KGB, serving as a means of maint ...

, all state commissioners were elected to the respective

and were appointed state ministers: * was appointed Minister for Food, Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern *

Jochen Wolf Jochen Wolf (26 August 1941 – 2 February 2022) was a German politician. A member of the Social Democratic Party of Germany, he served in the Landtag of Brandenburg from 1990 to 1994. He died in Brandenburg an der Havel Brandenburg an der ...

was appointed Minister for Urban Development, Housing and Transportation of Brandenburg * was appointed State Minister of the Interior of Saxony Josef Duchač succeeded himself as

Minister-President of Thuringia The Minister-President of Thuringia, officially the Minister-President of the Free State of Thuringia (german: Ministerpräsident des Freistaats Thüringen), is the head of government of the German state of Thuringia. The position was re-establi ...

State Commissioners

{, class="wikitable" style="text-align:center; width:100%; border:1px #AAAAFF solid" , - !width=28% rowspan=2, State !width=30% rowspan=2, Name !width=35% colspan=3, Term !width=28% rowspan=2, Party , - !Took office !Left office !Days , - ,

Mecklenburg-Vorpommern Mecklenburg-Vorpommern (MV; ; nds, Mäkelborg-Vörpommern), also known by its anglicized name Mecklenburg–Western Pomerania, is a state in the north-east of Germany. Of the country's sixteen states, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern ranks 14th in po ...

, Martin Brick
, 3 October 1990 , 27 October 1990 , , Christian Democratic Union , - ,

Brandenburg Brandenburg (; nds, Brannenborg; dsb, Bramborska ) is a states of Germany, state in the northeast of Germany bordering the states of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Lower Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt, and Saxony, as well as the country of Poland. With an ar ...

, 3 October 1990 , 1 November 1990 , ,

Social Democratic Party The name Social Democratic Party or Social Democrats has been used by many political parties in various countries around the world. Such parties are most commonly aligned to social democracy as their political ideology. Active parties For ...

, - ,

Saxony-Anhalt Saxony-Anhalt (german: Sachsen-Anhalt ; nds, Sassen-Anholt) is a state of Germany, bordering the states of Brandenburg, Saxony, Thuringia and Lower Saxony. It covers an area of and has a population of 2.18 million inhabitants, making it the ...

, Karl-Hermann Steinberg
, 3 October 1990 , 28 October 1990 , , Christian Democratic Union , - ,

Saxony Saxony (german: Sachsen ; Upper Saxon: ''Saggsn''; hsb, Sakska), officially the Free State of Saxony (german: Freistaat Sachsen, links=no ; Upper Saxon: ''Freischdaad Saggsn''; hsb, Swobodny stat Sakska, links=no), is a landlocked state of ...

Rudolf Krause Rudolf Krause (30 March 1907 – 11 April 1987) was a racing driver from East Germany. Biography Born in Reichenbach im Vogtland, Krause is mainly known as one of the leading sportsmen in motor racing in Formula Two, during his career between 1 ...

, 3 October 1990 , 27 October 1990 , , Christian Democratic Union , - ,

Thuringia Thuringia (; german: Thüringen ), officially the Free State of Thuringia ( ), is a state of central Germany, covering , the sixth smallest of the sixteen German states. It has a population of about 2.1 million. Erfurt is the capital and larg ...

, Josef Duchač
, 3 October 1990 , 8 November 1990
, {{age in days, 1990, 10, 3, 1990, 11, 8 , Christian Democratic Union

References

Political history of Germany 1990 in Germany East Germany German reunification Contemporary German history