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De facto leader of the GDR

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De facto leader of the German Democratic Republic
BERJAYA  BERJAYA  BERJAYA  BERJAYA
Logo of the SED and Emblems of the GDR
BERJAYA  BERJAYA  BERJAYA
Flag of the SED and Flags of the GDR
BERJAYA
Longest in role
Walter Ulbricht
7 October 1949 – 3 May 1971
Type1949–1950: De facto leader of the Socialist Unity Party (De facto Party leader)
1950–1989: General Secretary/First Secretary/General Secretary of the Socialist Unity Party (Party leader and between 1971 and 1976 De facto Head of State[1])
1989: No Position
1989: General Secretary of the Socialist Unity Party (Party leader)
1989: Chairman of the State Council (Head of State) or No Position
1989–1990: Chairman of the Council of Ministers (Head of Government)
StatusInformal term for the most important political figure of the German Democratic Republic[a]
Reports toGerman Economic Commission under the Soviet Military Administration in Germany (7 October 1949–10 October 1949)
German Economic Commission (disputed)[b]and Soviet Control Commission (10 October 1949–11/12 October 1949)
Soviet Control Commission (11/12 October 1949–28 May 1953)[5]
High Commission of the USSR in Germany (28 May 1953–22 September 1955)[6]
Embassy of the USSR in the GDR (22 September 1955–c. 25 October 1989)[7][8][9][10][11]
FormationOctober 7, 1949; 76 years ago (1949-10-07)
First holderWalter Ulbricht
Final holderHans Modrow
AbolishedApril 12, 1990; 36 years ago (1990-04-12)
Unofficial namesTop East German Leader[12]
East German leader
Leader of the GDR[13]
DeputyUnofficial number-two man in the SED leadership/Deputy:[14]
Karl Schirdewan[15]
Willi Stoph[16][17]
Erich Honecker[18][19]
Willi Stoph[20][17]
Paul Verner[citation needed]
Egon Krenz[21]
Günter Schabowski[22]

The de facto leader of the GDR was a informal term for the most powerful political figure in the German Democratic Republic between 1949 and 1990. During this period the de facto leader was not always the titular head of government or head of state, but was often the General Secretary of the Socialist Unity Party.[23][24][25]

Development

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Walter Ulbricht era (1949–1971)

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From the establishment of the German Democratic Republic on 7 October 1949, the Socialist Unity Party (SED) had a monopoly on power, which meant that the party leader was the highest position in the country.[26][27] While Wilhelm Pieck and Otto Grotewohl were the Joint Chairmen of the Socialist Unity Party and thus the de jure party leaders, the de facto leader of the SED and thus the GDR was Walter Ulbricht.[28] On 25 July 1950, Ulbricht became the sole de jure party leader of the SED as General Secretary (renamed as First Secretary in 1953).[29] In this position Ulbricht continued to rule the country until 3 May 1971.[30][31]

Erich Honecker era (1971–1989)

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On 3 May 1971, Erich Honecker won the power struggle against Ulbricht[34][39] and became the new First Secretary of the SED (changed back to General Secretary in 1976),[40] and thus the new de facto leader of the GDR.[41][42][43]

On 7 July 1989 Honecker was hospitalized after gall bladder complications.[44] He left the hospital on 12 July 1989,[45] however from then on nothing was heard of him until 26 September 1989, except for one occasion on 14 August 1989.[46] During this period was still gravely ill after his first hospital stay, and took a vacation to recuperate.[47] He was readmitted to hospital, but left it again,[48] and then finally reappeared on 26 September 1989. During this period, other people took over the leadership. On 24 July 1989 and 14 September 1989, it was reported that Egon Krenz was in charge since Honecker was in hospital,[49][50] however later it came out that Günter Mittag was in charge rather than Egon Krenz.[51][52][53]

On 26 September 1989, Honecker reappeared and was in charge again;[54] however this period of leadership was short-lived: on 18 October 1989, Honecker was ousted by other party members, following protests which demanded reforms.[55][56][57][58][59] Later it was reported that Honecker did not understood what had happened.[60][61]

Egon Krenz era (1989)

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On 18 October 1989, when Honecker was ousted, Egon Krenz became the new General Secretary and thus the new de facto leader.[62] Under his leadership, the SED officially gave up its power monopoly on 1 December 1989,[63] although Krenz continued as General Secretary until 3 December 1989,[64] and for another two days he still was the de facto leader.

Hans Modrow era (1989–1990)

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On 5 December 1989, Egon Krenz was succeeded by the Chairman of the Council of Ministers Hans Modrow. He was the de facto leader of the GDR until 12 April 1990, when he was succeeded as Chairman of the Council of Ministers by Lothar de Maizière as Minister-President. He was the first and last legitimately elected Minister-President.[65][66][67]

Aftermath

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On 18 March 1990 the first free elections were held in the GDR, and on 12 April 1990 Lothar de Maizière became the first and last legitimately elected Minister-President.[68]

Soviet Union oversight of the leadership of the GDR

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Besides the native de facto leadership, the Soviet Union oversaw the leadership of the German Democratic Republic and allegedly interfered in the domestic affairs of the GDR through various bodies, like the Soviet Military Administration in Germany, the German Economic Commission,[c] the Soviet Control Commission, the High Commission of the USSR in Germany and the Embassy of the USSR in the GDR.[5][69][7] One person who served as head of one of these bodies was Vasily Chuikov, who was described as "Front Man" and as "Top Man of East Germany".[70] While the GDR was until 1990 considered to be a satellite state,[71][72] it had already been announced in July of the preceding year that the Soviet Union would not interfere in the GDR's domestic affairs. This became official with the Sinatra Doctrine, which was proclaimed on 25 October 1989.[7][8][73][10][11][74][75] Vyacheslav Kochemasov was the last Soviet official to serve as Ambassador to the GDR during the period where the Soviet Union uphold the Brezhnev Doctrine.[76][77]

List of de facto leaders

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No. Portrait Name
(Birth–Death)		 Term of office Party Deputy Soviet Overseer
Took office Left office Time in office
1 BERJAYA Walter Ulbricht
(1893–1973)[d]		 7 October 1949 3 May 1971 21 years, 208 days Socialist Unity Party Karl Schirdewan
Willi Stoph
Erich Honecker		 Vasily Chuikov
Vladimir Semyonov
Georgy Pushkin
Mikhail Pervukhin
Pyotr Abrasimov
2 BERJAYA Erich Honecker
(1912–1994)		 3 May 1971 18 October 1989 18 years, 168 days Socialist Unity Party Willi Stoph
Paul Verner
Egon Krenz		 Pyotr Abrasimov
Mikhail Yefremov
Pyotr Abrasimov
Vyacheslav Kochemasov
– BERJAYA Günter Mittag
(1926–1994)[e]		 7 July 1989 26 September 1989 81 days Socialist Unity Party Egon Krenz Vyacheslav Kochemasov
3 BERJAYA Egon Krenz
(born 1937)		 18 October 1989 5 December 1989 48 days Socialist Unity Party Günter Schabowski
None		 Vyacheslav Kochemasov
None
4 BERJAYA Hans Modrow
(1928–2023)		 5 December 1989 12 April 1990 128 days Socialist Unity Party
Party of Democratic Socialism–Socialist Unity Party		 None None

Timeline

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Hans ModrowEgon KrenzGünter MittagErich HoneckerWalter UlbrichtBERJAYA

See also

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Notes

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  1. ↑ The de facto leader was not a formal position nor an office unto itself.
  2. ↑ Sources about the disestablishment date of the DWK, name different dates like 7 October 1949[2][3] or 11/12 October 1949.[4]
  3. ↑ Sources about the disestablishment date of the DWK, name different dates like 7 October 1949[2][3] or 11/12 October 1949.[4]
  4. ↑ In the beginning of 1971, Honecker took over some aspects of Ulbricht's work.[78]
  5. ↑ Between 7 July 1989 and 26 September 1989, Honecker was still seen as the leader of the German Democratic Republic, however Mittag was in charge, due Honecker's illness

References

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  1. ↑ "Erich Honecker – Aufstieg und Fall des DDR-Staatsoberhauptes". DDR Museum.
  2. 1 2 "Die Deutsche Wirtschaftskommission in der SBZ 1947-1949. Ihre Rolle bei der Herausbildung der Wirtschaftsund Staatsorganisation". Bundeszentrale für politische Bildung.
  3. 1 2 "Deutsche Wirtschaftskommission (Bestand)". Deutschen Digitalen Bibliothek.
  4. 1 2 "Deutschland-Chronik bis 2000". Bundeszentrale für politische Bildung.
  5. 1 2 "Soviet puts East Germany under High Commissioner". New York Times. 23 May 1953.
  6. ↑ Günther Heydemann: Die SBZ- und DDR-Forschung im Institut für Zeitgeschichte, in: Horst Möller, Udo Wengst (Hrsg.): 50 Jahre Institut für Zeitgeschichte. Eine Bilanz, Oldenbourg, München 1999, ISBN 3-486-56460-9, S. 469–486, hier S. 479
  7. 1 2 3 "Der SED-Staat – Partei, Staat und Gesellschaft 1949–1990 (page. 131 )". Klaus Schroeder. 1998.
  8. 1 2 "The Fall of the Wall: The Unintended Self-Dissolution of East Germany's Ruling Regime" (PDF). Hans-Hermann Hertle.
  9. ↑ Merkl, Peter H. (2004), German Unification, Penn State Press, ISBN 0-271-02566-2
  10. 1 2 "Gorbachev's Foreign Policy Helps Bring Soviet Collapse". Voice of America.
  11. 1 2 "The Berlin Wall". Stiftung Berliner Mauer.
  12. ↑ "East-West Little Man vs. Big Man". Time. 21 September 1987.
  13. ↑ "The Era of No Taboos? 1971–76". Thomas W. Goldstein. 24 August 2019.
  14. ↑ East Germany – Politburo. Country-data.com. Retrieved on 5 September 2011.
  15. ↑ "Der zweite Mann hinter Ulbricht: Karl Schirdewan: Ein Jahrhundert Leben ... Erinnerungen und Visionen". Herbert Mayer. 1999.
  16. ↑ "Letter from Berlin". The New Yorker. 8 October 1966.
  17. 1 2 "Obituary: Willi Stoph". Independent. 21 April 1999.
  18. ↑ "Erich Honecker and Walter Ulbricht (1968)". German History in Documents and Images.
  19. ↑ "»ER WAR IMMER DER BESTE SEINER KLASSE«". Spiegel. 1 January 1967.
  20. ↑ "STOPH REPLACED IN EAST GERMANY". New York Times. 4 October 1973.
  21. ↑ "Egon Krenz Die "verfolgte Unschuld"". Stern. 18 December 2003.
  22. ↑ Sarotte, Mary Elise (7 October 2014). The Collapse: The Accidental Opening of the Berlin Wall. New York City: Basic Books. p. 23. ISBN 9780465064946.
  23. ↑ "The Socialist Unity Party of Germany (SED)". DDR Museum. 27 May 2025.
  24. ↑ "'The totalitarian destruction of the public sphere?' Newspapers and structures of public communication in socialist countries: the example of the German Democratic Republic". Anke Fiedler and Michael Meyen. 5 May 2015.
  25. ↑ "Germany Splits into Two Republics". EBSCO.
  26. ↑ Fulbrook, Mary (2006). The People's State: East German Society from Hitler to Honecker.Yale University Press. pp. 31–34. ISBN 9780300108842.
  27. ↑ McCauley, Martin (1986). The German Democratic Republic since 1945. Palgrave Macmillan. pp. 141–143. ISBN 9780312325541.
  28. ↑ "All Among the Watchtowers A new book claims to be the definitive history of the GDR. Is it? And don't we have those already?". History Today. 7 May 2023.
  29. ↑ "Walter Ulbricht: Vom Exilanten zum Parteichef". MDR. 6 December 2021.
  30. ↑ "Something to Be Learned in Latest Look at GDR". Real Clear History. 13 April 2023.
  31. ↑ Walter Ulbricht: Herausgegeben von Egon Krenz," Publisher Das Neue Berlin (The New Berlin), 2013.
  32. ↑ Winkler, Heinrich August (2007). Germany: The Long Road West, Vol. 2: 1933–1990. Oxford University Press. pp. 266–268.
  33. ↑ Klenke, Olaf (2004). Betriebliche Konflikte in der DDR 1970/71 und der Machtwechsel von Ulbricht auf Honecker (in German).
  34. ↑ [32][33]
  35. ↑ "Wie Erich Honecker seinen politischen Ziehvater Walter Ulbricht stürzte". Deutschlandfunk. 2 May 2021.
  36. ↑ Allinson, Mark; Leaman, Jeremy; Parkes, Stuart; Tolkiehn, Barbara (2014). Contemporary Germany: Essays and Texts on Politics, Economics & Society (in German). London and New York: Routledge. p. 39. ISBN 978-1-317-87977-0. Retrieved 10 August 2021.
  37. ↑ "Als Honecker mit Maschinenpistolen zu Ulbricht fuhr". Welt. 3 May 2021.
  38. ↑ "Erich Honecker replaces Walter Ulbricht at the helm of the DDR". Deutschland Museum.
  39. ↑ [35][36][37][38]
  40. ↑ "The Honecker Era (1971–1989)". German History in Documents and Images.
  41. ↑ "Erich Honecker DDR-Staatsratsvorsitzender (1912-1994)". Portal Rheinische Geschichte.
  42. ↑ "Erich Honecker übernimmt die Macht in der DDR". Deutschland Museum.
  43. ↑ "Erich Honecker". Britannica.
  44. ↑ "Als Honecker in Bukarest zusammenbrach". NTV.
  45. ↑ "HONECKER LEAVES HOSPITAL". Financial Review. 12 July 1989.
  46. ↑ "Honecker Returns to Work After Surgery". Los Angeles Times. 26 September 1989.
  47. ↑ "HONECKER REPORTED TO BE GRAVELY ILL WEST GERMANY BRACES FOR INFLUX OF EAST GERMANS FROM HUNGARY". Washington Post. 30 August 1989.
  48. ↑ "Honecker discharged from hospital". United Press International. 1 September 1989.
  49. ↑ "Illness Sparks Succession Watch in East Germany". New York Times. 24 July 1989.
  50. ↑ "EAST GERMANY 'PARALYZED' HONECKER'S ILLNESS LEAVES LEADERSHIP VOID". Washington Post. 14 September 1989.
  51. ↑ "Mittag, Günter". Deutsche Biographie.
  52. ↑ "Günter Mittag rast vor dem Fernsehgerät". Mitteldeutsche Zeitung. 8 September 2024.
  53. ↑ "Günter Mittag galt als der Totengräber der DDR". Cool'is im Osten. 28 August 2025.
  54. ↑ "East German Leader, Long Absent, Reappears". New York Times. 26 September 1989.
  55. ↑ "The End Of Honecker". University of Cambridge.
  56. ↑ "Der Sturz von Erich Honecker am 18. Oktober 1989". Bundeszentrale für politische Bildung.
  57. ↑ "Erich Honecker und sein langes Ende". MDR. 22 March 2022.
  58. ↑ "Führungswechsel". LeMO - Lebendiges Museum online.
  59. ↑ "Faced with a morale-sapping exodus, East German leader Erich Honecker could only talk of past glories The decline of a man who would not change". The Guardian. 19 October 1989.
  60. ↑ "Erich Honecker, Mastermind of Berlin Wall, Dies". Los Angeles Times. 30 May 1994.
  61. ↑ "Honecker still wonders why 'everybody applauded' when he quit". United Press International. 20 November 1990.
  62. ↑ "1989 East Germany leader ousted". Macau Daily Times. 18 October 2024.
  63. ↑ Münkel, Daniela. "STATE SECURITY. A READER ON THE GDR SECRET POLICE" (PDF). German Federal Archives. Retrieved 5 August 2026.
  64. ↑ ""Sehen Sie hier einen verbitterten Mann? Nein."". Spiegel.
  65. ↑ "East Germany's last Communist premier dies aged 95". Reuters. 11 February 2023.
  66. ↑ "East Germany's last Communist premier dies aged 95". Deutsche Welle. 11 February 2023.
  67. ↑ "DLF-Kommentar zum Wechsel von Erich Honecker auf Egon Krenz". Deutschlandfunk.
  68. ↑ "Lothar de Maizière wird 80: Im entscheidenden Moment getan, was getan werden musste". Tagesspiegel. 1 March 2020.
  69. ↑ Günther Heydemann: Die SBZ- und DDR-Forschung im Institut für Zeitgeschichte, in: Horst Möller, Udo Wengst (Hrsg.): 50 Jahre Institut für Zeitgeschichte. Eine Bilanz, Oldenbourg, München 1999, ISBN 3-486-56460-9, S. 469–486, hier S. 479
  70. ↑ "EAST GERMANY: Front Man". Time. Event occurs at 1953.
  71. ↑ Hans-Ulrich Wehler, Deutsche Gesellschaftsgeschichte, Band 5: Bundesrepublik und DDR 1949–1990, C.H. Beck, München 2008, S. 252.
  72. ↑ Herwig Roggemann, Systemunrecht und Strafrecht am Beispiel der Mauerschützen in der ehemaligen DDR, Verlag Arno Spitz, Berlin 1993, S. 67 ff.; Peter-Alexis Albrecht, Das Bundesverfassungsgericht und die strafrechtliche Verarbeitung von Systemunrecht – eine deutsche Lösung, in: NJ 1997, S. 1; Uwe Wesel, Der Honecker-Prozeß, in KJ 1993, S. 198 ff. (200).
  73. ↑ Merkl, Peter H. (2004), German Unification, Penn State Press, ISBN 0-271-02566-2
  74. ↑ "Gorbachev's vision for a 'common European home'- archive, July 1989". The Guardian.
  75. ↑ "Gorbachev, in Finland, Disavows Any Right of Regional Intervention". New York Times.
  76. ↑ Augstein, Rudolf (16 November 1992). "Schmeichelei und Unterwürfigkeit SPIEGEL-Interview mit Moskaus Ex-Botschafter in der DDR, Wjatscheslaw Kotschemassow, über Erich Honecker". Der Spiegel (online). Retrieved 26 November 2014.
  77. ↑ Krumm (1 September 1997). "Eindeutig ein Gericht der Sieger: Interview mit dem letzten sowjetischen Botschafter in der DDR, Wjatscheslaw Kotschemassow, über Moskau, die Mauer und den Krenz-Prozeß". Der Spiegel (online). Retrieved 26 November 2014.
  78. ↑ "SWITCH IS SMOOTH IN EAST GERMANY". New York Times. 19 May 1971.
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