Social Democratic Party in the GDR
| Social Democratic Party in the GDR | |
|---|---|
| Honorary Chairman | Willy Brandt |
| founding | October 7, 1989 |
| Place of foundation | Schwante near Berlin |
| fusion | September 26, 1990 (incorporated into: SPD ) |
| Headquarters | Berlin |
| Alignment | Social democracy |
| Colours) | red |
| Minimum age | 18 years |
The Social Democratic Party in the GDR ( SDP , from January 1990 SPD ) was a political party that emerged in the German Democratic Republic (GDR) during the transition period. It was founded on October 7, 1989 in Schwante near Berlin and united on September 26, 1990 in Berlin with the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD).
history
The main initiators were the Protestant theologians Martin Gutzeit and Markus Meckel , who did the preparatory work in terms of content and organization. In April 1989 a first draft for a founding appeal was drawn up, which was presented on August 26th in the Berlin Golgotha congregation. This appeal was signed by Gutzeit, Meckel, the student pastor Arndt Noack and the director Ibrahim Böhme .
Between 40 and 50 people attended the founding meeting of the party in the rectory in Schwante, including Angelika Barbe , Ibrahim Böhme , Konrad Elmer , Martin Gutzeit, Stephan Hilsberg , Torsten Hilse , Thomas Krüger , Sabine Leger , Markus Meckel, Annemarie and Matthias Müller , Arndt Noack, Steffen Reiche and Reiner Rühle . The programmer Stephan Hilsberg was elected first spokesman for the party, and Ibrahim Böhme became the managing director.
Between October and December 1989 regional groups of the SDP were founded in various cities. The SDP got two seats at the Central Round Table of the GDR. From January 13, 1990, following a resolution by the 1st delegates' conference in Berlin , the party began to use the abbreviation SPD, which indicated a turn towards West German social democracy. The SDP executive committee had already submitted the proposal for this change to the party base on December 7, 1989. During this time the district and regional associations of the party were founded. On January 29, the SPD of the GDR sent with Walter Romberg one representative as a minister without portfolio in the government of Hans Modrow .
The first party congress from February 22nd to 25th in Leipzig brought about the election of the first party executive committee. Ibrahim Böhme was elected chairman on February 23rd. Furthermore, the basic program and a statute of the SPD of the GDR were decided at this party congress. After all, this meeting three weeks before the election to the People's Chamber on March 18 is to be seen as a kind of electoral party conference. At the same party congress on February 24th, Willy Brandt was elected honorary chairman of the GDR SPD.
The Volkskammer election was a disappointment for the Social Democrats. Instead of an absolute majority as hoped, the SPD moved into parliament with 21.7 percent of the vote. It achieved the best results in the districts of Berlin (34.9%), Potsdam (34.4%) and Frankfurt (Oder) (31.9%). By far the worst result was achieved by the Social Democrats in the Dresden district with 9.7%. After internal debates, it was agreed to enter into coalition negotiations with the election winners, the Alliance for Germany made up of the CDU , DSU and Democratic Awakening, as well as the Federation of Free Democrats .
At the time of the coalition negotiations, Chairman Ibrahim Böhme, as a long-time employee of the Ministry of State Security, was exposed by the news magazine Der Spiegel . Although he denied all allegations, he resigned from all his party offices on April 1, and in 1992 he was expelled from the SPD. On April 8, Markus Meckel was appointed interim chairman of the SPD in the GDR, until Wolfgang Thierse was elected chairman at a special party conference in Halle (Saale) on June 9th . From April 12 to August 20, 1990, the SPD of the GDR was involved in the government of the Christian Democrat Lothar de Maizière with six ministers, the most famous names were Markus Meckel (exterior), Regine Hildebrandt (social affairs) and Walter Romberg (finances) . Reinhard Höppner became Vice President of the People's Chamber. On August 15, Prime Minister Lothar de Maizière announced the dismissal of some ministers - including Romberg, an SPD minister. The SPD then withdrew its ministers and state secretaries from the government on August 20 and ended the coalition.
At the party congress on September 26, 1990, the GDR SPD united with the West German Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD) - seven days before German reunification .
literature
- Henrik Bispinck: SDP founded. In: Places of Remembrance of the Social Democracy. Edited by Archive of Social Democracy of the Friedrich Ebert Foundation , Bonn 2012, fes.de
- Peter Gohle: From the founding of the SDP to the all-German SPD. Social democracy in the GDR and German unity in 1989/90 . Verlag JHW Dietz, Bonn 2014, ISBN 978-3-8012-4227-5 .
- Wolfgang Grof: In the fresh tradition of autumn 1989. The SDP / SPD in the GDR - From the foundation to the Volkskammer work to German unity . Ed .: Archive of Social Democracy of the Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung . 3. Edition. 1996, ISBN 3-86077-521-9 , ISSN 1431-6080 ( fes.de [PDF; 308 kB ; accessed on October 7, 2008]).
- Wolfgang Herzberg , Patrik von zur Mühlen (ed.): It all depends on the beginning - a new social democratic beginning in the GDR in 1989. JHW Dietz-Verlag, Bonn 1993, ISBN 3-8012-0198-8 .
- Making business easier . In: Der Spiegel . No. 46 , 1989, pp. 50-53 ( online ).
See also
Web links
- SDP at the German Historical Museum
- Documents on the subject of SDP
- Reproduction of an SDP leaflet from the Leipzig Monday demonstration - the SDP board announced that it was founded on October 7, 1989 in Schwante.