Social Democratic Party of Germany
Sozialdemokratische Partei Deutschlands |
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Abbreviation | SPD |
Chairman | Sigmar Gabriel |
Secretary-General | Katarina Barley |
Vice Chairpeople |
Hannelore Kraft Thorsten Schäfer-Gümbel Olaf Scholz Manuela Schwesig Aydan Özoğuz |
Founded | 23 May 1863 |
Merger of | ADAV and SDAP |
Headquarters |
Willy-Brandt-Haus D-10911 Berlin |
Newspaper | "Vorwärts" |
Student wing | Socialist German Student Union (1946–1961), Juso-Hochschulgruppen (since 1973) |
Youth wing | Jusos |
Women's wing | Association of Social Democratic Women |
Membership (2015) | 445,534 |
Ideology |
Social democracy Pro-Europeanism |
Political position | Centre-left |
European affiliation | Party of European Socialists |
International affiliation |
Progressive Alliance, Socialist International |
European Parliament group | Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats |
Colors | Red |
Bundestag |
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State Parliaments |
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European Parliament |
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Prime Ministers of States |
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Website | |
www |
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The Social Democratic Party of Germany (German: Sozialdemokratische Partei Deutschlands, SPD) is a social-democraticpolitical party in Germany. The party, led by Chairman Sigmar Gabriel since 2009, has become one of the two major contemporary political parties in Germany, along with the Christian Democratic Union (CDU).
The SPD has governed at the federal level in Germany as part of a grand coalition with the CDU and the Christian Social Union (CSU) since December 2013 following the results of the 2013 federal election. The SPD participates in 14 state governments, nine of them governed by SPD Minister-Presidents.
The SPD is a member of the Party of European Socialists and of the Socialist International, and became a founding member of the Progressive Alliance on 22 May 2013. Established in 1863, the SPD is the oldest extant political party represented in the German Parliament and was one of the first Marxist-influenced parties in the world.
The General German Workers' Association (Allgemeiner Deutscher Arbeiterverein, ADAV), founded in 1863, and the Social Democratic Workers' Party (Sozialdemokratische Arbeiterpartei Deutschlands, SDAP), founded in 1869, merged in 1875, under the name Socialist Workers' Party of Germany (Sozialistische Arbeiterpartei Deutschlands, SAPD). From 1878 to 1890, any grouping or meeting that aimed at spreading socialist principles was banned under the Anti-Socialist Laws, but the party still gained support in elections. In 1890, when the ban was lifted and it could again present electoral lists, the party adopted its current name. In the years leading up to World War I, the party remained ideologically radical in official principle, although many party officials tended to be moderate in everyday politics. By 1912, the party claimed the most votes of any German party.