Social Democratic Party in the GDR
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Social Democratic Party in the GDR
Sozialdemokratische Partei in der DDR |
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| Leader |
Markus Meckel Ibrahim Böhme Wolfgang Thierse |
| Founded | 7 October 1989 |
| Dissolved | 26 September 1990 |
| Merged into | Social Democratic Party of Germany |
| Ideology | Social democracy |
| Colours | Red |
The Social Democratic Party in the GDR (German: Sozialdemokratische Partei in der DDR) was a reconstituted Social Democratic Party existing during the last phase of the East German state. Slightly less than a year after its creation it merged with the West German Social Democratic Party of Germany.
What became East Germany was traditionally the heartland for the SPD in united Germany. In 1946, the Soviet occupation authorities forced the eastern branch of the SPD to merge with the eastern branch of the Communist Party of Germany to form the Socialist Unity Party of Germany (SED). Within a short time, however, the few independent-minded members from the SPD side of the merger had been pushed out, and the SED became a full-fledged Communist Party.
Early in 1989, the Protestant theologians Markus Meckel and Martin Gutzeit took the initiative to revive a Social Democratic Party in the GDR. The two made organisational preparations and in April 1989 produced the first draft of the foundation appeal. In August, the appeal was presented at the Golgathagemeinde parish in Berlin. The appeal was signed by Meckel, Gutzeit, director and human rights advocate Ibrahim Böhme and theologian Arndt Noack.
Calling for the foundation of a political party outside of the system of the National Front was a direct challenge to the political system of the GDR and especially to the SED, whose basis was undermined by the mere existence of a Social Democratic Party. The SED based its claim to power on being the sole representative of the working class.
On 7 October 1989, forty or fifty people, mostly from Berlin and the southern parts of the country, assembled at the vicarage of Schwante, a town near Berlin, and founded the Social Democratic Party in the GDR. The party chose the abbreviation SDP to avoid associations with the SPD that had merged into the SED, and also to brand itself as independent of the West German SPD. Stephan Hilsberg, a programmer, was elected as the first party spokesman, while Ibrahim Böhme became manager.
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