Round table primarily refers to the Central Round Table (''Zentraler Runder Tisch''), a series of meetings during the Peaceful Revolution 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 its dissolution on 3 October 1990. In these years the state ...

in late-1989 and early-1990. Runder tisch

The Round table first convened in East Berlin on 7 December 1989, the day after

Egon Krenz Egon Rudi Ernst Krenz (; born 19 March 1937) is a German former politician who was the last Communist leader of the German Democratic Republic (East Germany) during the Revolutions of 1989. He succeeded Erich Honecker as the General Secretary ...

had resigned as the head of the Socialist Unity Party (SED) government. This Round Table, modeled after the

Polish Round Table The Polish Round Table Talks took place in Warsaw, Poland from 6 February to 5 April 1989. The government initiated talks with the banned trade union Solidarność and other opposition groups in an attempt to defuse growing social unrest. Hist ...

convened in April 1989, was initiated by the group

Democracy Now ''Democracy Now!'' is an hour-long American TV, radio, and Internet news program hosted by journalists Amy Goodman (who also acts as the show's executive producer), Juan González, and Nermeen Shaikh. The show, which airs live each weekday at ...

. "Round table" was to be understood in a metaphorical sense, meaning that the participants were on a par with each other. Physically, the table was rectangular (unlike the Polish model which was literally round). It was set up as a forum in which members of East German government-aligned organizations (such as the so-called bloc parties,

trade unions A trade union (labor union in American English), often simply referred to as a union, is an organization of workers intent on "maintaining or improving the conditions of their employment", ch. I such as attaining better wages and benefits ( ...

, etc.) came together with representatives of the new citizens’ movements (such as Democracy Now, Democratic Awakening, and

New Forum New Forum (german: Neues Forum) was a political movement in East Germany formed in the months leading up to the collapse of the East German state. It was founded on 9 September 1989 and was the first independent (non- National Front) political ...

) to discuss and advance reforms in the German Democratic Republic (

), advising the executive until free elections could be held. There were 39 representatives at the Central Round Table, 33 of whom were entitled to vote. Seventeen of them represented new oppositional groups and political parties, and sixteen were from political parties and organizations that had been part of the communist-dominated East German government. Three, representing women, consumers and environmentalists, had observer status.{{cite web, url=http://www.ddr-wissen.de/wiki/ddr.pl?Zentraler_Runder_Tisch , title=DDR-Lexikon: Zentraler Runder Tisch , publisher=Ddr-wissen.de , date= , accessdate=2012-10-22 The final three members were the moderators, all clergymen, from the

Protestant Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seeking to reform the Catholic Church from within in the 16th century against what its followers perceived to b ...

Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

and

Methodist Methodism, also called the Methodist movement, is a group of historically related denominations of Protestant Christianity whose origins, doctrine and practice derive from the life and teachings of John Wesley. George Whitefield and John's ...

churches, who did not have a vote. At first most participants hoped to reform the East German government and thus retain the country’s independence, but as popular opinion moved towards rapid unification with West Germany, these hopes were dashed. The Round Table's first three meetings, held on 7, 18 and 22 December 1989, took place in the Protestant church's Bonhoeffer House near

Friedrichstraße The Friedrichstraße () (lit. ''Frederick Street'') is a major culture and shopping street in central Berlin, forming the core of the Friedrichstadt neighborhood and giving the name to Berlin Friedrichstraße station. It runs from the northern pa ...

in Berlin- Mitte. Because popular interest created a need for more space, from the fourth meeting on 27 December to the sixteenth and final meeting on 12 March 1990, the Round Table met in the conference building of the SED-dominated

Council of Ministers A council is a group of people who come together to consult, deliberate, or make decisions. A council may function as a legislature, especially at a town, city or county/ shire level, but most legislative bodies at the state/provincial or nati ...

in Ossietzky St. near

Schönhausen Palace Schönhausen Palace (german: Schloss Schönhausen) is a Baroque palace at Niederschönhausen, in the borough of Pankow, Berlin, Germany. It is surrounded by gardens through which the Panke river runs. The palace is maintained by the Prussian Pa ...

in Berlin-

Pankow Pankow () is the most populous and the second-largest borough by area of Berlin. In Berlin's 2001 administrative reform, it was merged with the former boroughs of Prenzlauer Berg and Weißensee; the resulting borough retained the name Pankow. ...

. During the first meeting the Round Table decided to dissolve the "Office for National Security" (the organization that succeeded the Stasi), to hold free elections for the East German Parliament (''Volkskammer'') on 6 May 1990 (in January the election was preponed to 18 March 1990), and to draft a new constitution, a project that was completed by a subcommittee and presented on 4 April 1990, but never discussed by the newly elected ''Volkskammer''. Modeled after this Central Round Table, many local round tables were set up in cities and towns across East Germany. In general they continued to exist until the May 6, 1990 local elections constituted new local governments.

References

Bibliography

* Timothy Garton Ash, ''We the People: The Revolution of '89 Witnessed in Warsaw, Budapest, Berlin and Prague'' (London 1999) * André Hahn, ''Der Runde Tisch: das Volk und die Macht – politische Kultur im letzten Jahr der DDR'' (Berlin 1998) * Uwe Thaysen (ed.), ''Der Zentrale Runde Tisch der DDR: Wortprotokoll und Dokumente'' 4 vols. (Wiesbaden 2000) * Uwe Thaysen, ''Der Runde Tisch. Oder: Wo blieb das Volk?'' (Opladen 1990)

External links

Captioned image of the first Central Round Table meeting
at germanhistorydocs.ghi-dc.org.
Image of some members at the Jan. 22, 1990 Round Table meeting
at germanhistorydocs.ghi-dc.org.
Goals of the Central Round Table
by Democratic Awakening, at germanhistorydocs.ghi-dc.org.

article on the website of the

Deutsches Historisches Museum The German Historical Museum (german: Deutsches Historisches Museum), known by the acronym DHM, is a museum in Berlin, Germany devoted to German history. It describes itself as a place of "enlightenment and understanding of the shared history ...

Politics of East Germany History of East Germany 1989 establishments in East Germany 1990 disestablishments in East Germany East Berlin 1989 in Berlin 1990 in Berlin 1989 conferences 1990 conferences