Liberal Democratic Party of Germany
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Liberal Democratic Party of Germany
Liberal-Demokratische Partei Deutschlands |
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|---|---|
| Chairman |
Waldemar Koch (1945) Wilhelm Külz (1945-1948) Arthur Lieutenant (1948-1949) Karl Hamann, Hermann Kastner (1949-1952) Hans Loch (1952-1960) Max Suhrbier (1960-1967) Manfred Gerlach (1967-1979) Unknown (1979-1989) Rainer Ortleb (1989-1990) |
| Founded | July 1945 |
| Dissolved | 11 August 1990 |
| Merged into | Free Democratic Party |
| Headquarters | East Berlin, East Germany |
| Membership (1987) | 106,000 |
| Ideology |
1945-1952, 1989-1990: Liberalism, Conservative liberalism 1952-1989: Liberalism, Social liberalism, Socialism (non-Marxist) |
| Political position |
1945-1952: Center rightmajority, Right-wingminority 1952-1989: Left-wing 1989-1990: Center rightmajority, Right-wingminority |
| National affiliation | National Front |
| International affiliation | None (Co-operation with other official liberal parties within the Soviet dominated part of the world; see below) |
| Colours | Black, red, yellow (National colours) |
| Party flag | |
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The Liberal Democratic Party of Germany (German: Liberal-Demokratische Partei Deutschlands, LDPD) was a political party in East Germany. 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.
The history of the party dates back to June 1946, when a group led by Waldemar Koch took the initiative in refounding the German Democratic Party. At first there were some speculation of forming a united liberal party with the Christian Democrats, but the idea was abandoned soon and on 5 July 1946, the Liberal Democratic Party of Germany was officially founded.
It was first of all aimed at uniting Weimar Republic-era members of the German Democratic Party, German People's Party and German National People's Party. Unlike the East German Christian Democratic Union (CDU), the Liberal Democratic Party was firmly for private ownership and opposed to nationalization of important private enterprises. Among the new anti-fascist parties, Liberal Democratic Party was the most anti-communist 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, of 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.
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