Volkskammer

People's Chamber

Volkskammer
People's Chamber ; Volkskammer
German Democratic Republic
	Emblem
Type
Type	Unicameral
History
Founded	7 October 1949
Disbanded	3 October 1990
Preceded by	Reichstag (Nazi Germany) 1933–1945; Länderkammer (East Germany) 1949–1958
Succeeded by	Bundestag
Leadership
President	Johannes Dieckmann (first) ; Sabine Bergmann-Pohl (last)
Vice President/Deputy President	(first presidium); Hermann Matern; Gerald Götting; Ernst Goldenbaum; Heinrich Homann; Vincenz Müller; ; (last presidium); Reinhard Höppner; Käte Niederkirchner; Jürgen Schmieder; Wolfgang Ullmann; Stefan Gottschall
Seats	400
Elections
First election	15 October 1950
Last election	18 March 1990
Meeting place
	Palace of the Republic, East Berlin
Constitution
	Constitution of East Germany

The Volkskammer (German: [ˈfɔlkskamɐ], "People's Chamber") was the supreme power organ of East Germany. It was the only branch of government in the state, and per the principle of unified power, all state organs were subservient to it.

The Volkskammer was initially the lower house of a bicameral legislature. The upper house was the Chamber of States, or Länderkammer, but in 1952 the states of East Germany were dissolved, and the Chamber of States was abolished in 1958. Constitutionally, the Volkskammer was the highest organ of state power in the GDR, and both constitutions vested it with great lawmaking powers. All other branches of government, including the judiciary, were responsible to it. By 1960, the chamber appointed the State Council (the GDR's collective head of state), the Council of Ministers (the GDR's government), and the National Defence Council (the GDR's collective military leadership).

In practice, however, it was a rubber stamp parliament that did little more than ratify decisions already made by the SED Politburo. By the 1970s and before the Peaceful Revolution, the Volkskammer only met two to four times a year.^[1]

Membership

In October 1949 the Volksrat ("People's Council"), charged with drafting the Constitution of East Germany, proclaimed itself the Volkskammer and requested official recognition as a national legislature from the Soviet Military Administration in Germany. This was granted by Soviet Deputy Foreign Minister Andrei Gromyko. The Volkskammer then convened with the Länderkammer to elect Wilhelm Pieck as the first President of East Germany and Otto Grotewohl as the first Prime Minister of East Germany.^[2]

From its founding in 1949 until the first competitive elections in March 1990, all members of the Volkskammer were elected via a single list from the National Front, a popular front/electoral alliance dominated by the SED. In addition, seats were also allocated to various organizations affiliated with the SED, such as the Free German Youth. Effectively, the SED held control over the composition of the Volkskammer.^[3] In any event, the minor parties in the National Front were largely subservient to the SED, and were required to accept the SED's "leading role" as a condition of their continued existence.^[4]

The members of the People's Chamber were elected in multi-member constituencies, with four to eight seats. To be elected, a candidate needed to receive half of the valid votes cast in their constituency. If, within a constituency, an insufficient number of candidates got the majority needed to fill all the seats, a second round was held within 90 days. If the number of candidates getting this majority exceeds the number of seats in the respective constituency, the order of the candidates on the election list decided who got to sit in the Volkskammer. Candidates who lost out on a seat because of this would become successor candidates who would fill casual vacancies which might occur during a legislative period.^[5]

Only one list of candidates appeared on a ballot paper; voters simply took the ballot paper and dropped it into the ballot box. Those who wanted to vote against the National Front list had to vote using a separate ballot box, without any secrecy.^[6] The table below shows an overview of the reported results of all parliamentary elections before 1990, with the resulting disposition of parliamentary seats.

Election	Turnout	Agree	Distribution of parliamentary seats
Election	Turnout	Agree	SED	CDU	LDPD	DBD	NDPD	FDGB	FDJ	KB	DFD	SPD	VdgB	VVN
1950	98.53%	99.9%	110	67	66	33	35	49	25	24	20	6	12	19
1954	98.51%	99.4%	117	52	52	52	52	53	29	29	18		12
1958	98.90%	99.9%	117	52	52	52	52	53	29	29	18		12
1963	99.25%	99.9%	127	52	52	52	52	68	40	35	22
1967	99.82%	99.9%	127	52	52	52	52	68	40	35	22
1971	98.48%	99.5%	127	52	52	52	52	68	40	35	22
1976	98.58%	99.8%	127	52	52	52	52	68	40	35	22
1981	99.21%	99.9%	127	52	52	52	52	68	40	35	22
1986	99.74%	99.9%	127	52	52	52	52	68	37	21	32		14

In 1976, the Volkskammer moved into a specially constructed building on Marx-Engels-Platz (now Schloßplatz again), the Palace of the Republic (Palast der Republik). Prior to this, the Volkskammer met at Langenbeck-Virchow-Haus [de] in the Mitte district of Berlin.

Initially, voters in East Berlin could not take part in elections to the Volkskammer, in which they were represented by indirectly elected non-voting members, but in 1979 the electoral law was changed to provide for 66 directly elected deputies with full voting rights.^[7]

With the advent of the Peaceful revolution, a new electoral law was passed on 20 February 1990, reducing the Volkskammer to 400 members and establishing their competitive election using party-list proportional representation, with no electoral threshold. Seats were calculated nationally using the largest remainder method, and distributed in multi-member constituencies corresponding to the fifteen Bezirke.^[8]

After the 1990 election, the disposition of the parties was as follows:

Party/Group	Acronym	Members
Alliance for Germany	CDU, DA, DSU	192
Social Democratic Party in the GDR	SPD	88
Party of Democratic Socialism	PDS, former SED	66
Association of Free Democrats	DFP, FDP, LDP	21
Alliance 90	B90	12
Green Party and Independent Women's Association	Grüne, UFV	8
National Democratic Party of Germany	NDPD	2
Democratic Women's League of Germany	DFD	1
United Left	VL	1

Presidents of the People's Chamber

The president of the People's Chamber was the third-highest state post in the GDR (after the chairman of the Council of Ministers and the chairman of the State Council) and was the ex officio vice president during the existence of the office of president. As such, on two occasions, the president of the People's Chamber served as acting president for brief periods in 1949 and 1960. The last president of the People's Chamber, Sabine Bergmann-Pohl, was also interim head of state during the last six months of East Germany's existence due to the State Council having been abolished.

The presidency of the People's Chamber was held by a bloc party representative for most of that body's existence to keep up the appearance that the GDR was led by a broad coalition. Only one SED member ever held the post.

Name	Entered office	Left office	Party
Johannes Dieckmann	7 October 1949	22 February 1969	LDPD
Gerald Götting	12 May 1969	29 October 1976	CDU
Horst Sindermann	29 October 1976	13 November 1989	SED
Günther Maleuda	13 November 1989	5 April 1990	DBD
Sabine Bergmann-Pohl	5 April 1990	2 October 1990	CDU

Parties and organizations represented

National front parties

Party	Foundation	Dissolution	Seats in the Volkskammer (1986)
Socialist Unity Party SED	21 April 1946	16 December 1989	127
Christian Democratic Union CDU	26 June 1945	1/2 October 1990	52
Liberal Democratic Party LDPD	5 July 1945	27 March 1990	52
Democratic Farmers' Party DBD	17 June 1948	15 September 1990	52
National Democratic Party NDPD	5 May 1948	27 March 1990	52

National front organizations

Organization	Foundation	Dissolution	Assigned representatives in the Volkskammer (1986)
Free German Trade Union Federation FDGB	1946	1990	61
Free German Youth FDJ	1946	exists today	37
Democratic Women's League of Germany DFD	1947	1990	32
Cultural Association of the DDR KB	1945	1990	21
Peasants Mutual Aid Association VdgB	1945	1994	14

Parties and organizations in the 1990 Volkskammer

Party	Foundation	Dissolution	Seats in the Volkskammer (1990 election)
Christian Democratic Union CDU	26 June 1945	1/2 October 1990	163
Social Democratic Party SPD	7 October 1989	26 September 1990	88
Party of Democratic Socialism PDS	16 December 1989	16 June 2007	66
German Social Union DSU	20 January 1990	exists today	25
Liberal Democratic Party LDPD	5 July 1945	27 March 1990	10
Democratic Farmers' Party DBD	17 June 1948	15 September 1990	9
Green Party GP	9 February 1990	3 December 1990	8
German Forum Party DFP	27 January 1990	11 August 1990	7
New Forum NF	9/10 September 1989	21 September 1991	7
Free Democratic Party FDP	4 February 1990	11 August 1990	4
Democratic Awakening DA	29 October 1989	4 August 1990	4
Democracy Now DJ	12 September 1989	21 September 1991	3
National Democratic Party NDPD	5 May 1948	27 March 1990	2
Initiative for Peace and Human Rights IFM	24 January 1986	21 September 1991	2
Democratic Women's League of Germany DFD	8 March 1947	26 October 1990	1
United Left VL	2 October 1989	1992	1

Results

1949 East German Constitutional Assembly election (first)



Party or alliance			Votes	%	Seats
	Democratic Bloc (East Germany)	Socialist Unity Party of Germany	7,943,949	66.07	450
		Christian Democratic Union (East Germany)			225
		Liberal Democratic Party of Germany			225
		Cooperatives			100
		Democratic Farmers' Party of Germany			75
		National Democratic Party of Germany (East Germany)			75
		Democratic Women's League of Germany			50
		Free German Trade Union Federation			50
		Free German Youth			50
		Cultural Association of the GDR			50
		Peasants Mutual Aid Association			50
		Union of Persecutees of the Nazi Regime			50
		Social Democratic Party in the GDR			25
		Independents			50
Against			4,080,272	33.93	0
Total			12,024,221	100.00	1,525

1986 East German general election (final under the SED)



Party or alliance			Votes	%	Seats
	National Front of the German Democratic Republic	Socialist Unity Party of Germany	12,392,094	99.94	127
		Free German Trade Union Federation			61
		Christian Democratic Union (East Germany)			52
		Liberal Democratic Party of Germany			52
		National Democratic Party of Germany (East Germany)			52
		Democratic Farmers' Party of Germany			52
		Free German Youth			37
		Democratic Women's League of Germany			32
		Cultural Association of the GDR			21
		Peasants Mutual Aid Association			14
Against			7,512	0.06	0
Total			12,399,606	100.00	500

1990 East German general election (final)



Party or alliance				Votes	%	Seats	+/–
	Alliance for Germany		Christian Democratic Union	4,710,598	40.82	163	+111
			German Social Union	727,730	6.31	25	New
			Democratic Awakening	106,146	0.92	4	New
		Total		5,544,474	48.04	192	+140
	Social Democratic Party			2,525,534	21.88	88	New
	Party of Democratic Socialism			1,892,381	16.40	66	–61
	Association of Free Democrats			608,935	5.28	21	–31
	Alliance 90			336,074	2.91	12	New
	Democratic Farmers' Party			251,226	2.18	9	–43
	Green Party–Independent Women's Association			226,932	1.97	8	New
	National Democratic Party			44,292	0.38	2	–50
	Democratic Women's League			38,192	0.33	1	–31
	United Left			20,342	0.18	1	New
	Alternative Youth List (DJP–GJ–MJV–FDJ)			14,616	0.13	0	–37
	Christian League			10,691	0.09	0	New
	Communist Party			8,819	0.08	0	New
	Independent Social Democratic Party			3,891	0.03	0	New
	European Federalist Party			3,636	0.03	0	New
	Independent People's Party			3,007	0.03	0	New
	German Beer Drinkers' Union			2,534	0.02	0	New
	Spartacist Workers Party			2,417	0.02	0	New
	Unity Now			2,396	0.02	0	New
	Federation of Socialist Workers			386	0.00	0	New
	Association of Working Groups for Work Policy and Democracy			380	0.00	0	New
Total				11,541,155	100.00	400	0

Valid votes				11,541,155	99.45
Invalid/blank votes				63,263	0.55
Total votes				11,604,418	100.00
Registered voters/turnout				12,426,443	93.38
Source: Nohlen & Stöver,^[9] IPU, Wahlen in Deutschland

Notes

^ Lower house of bicameral legislature until 8 December 1958

References

^ Pötzl, Norbert F. (18 March 2020). "Letzte DDR-Volkskammer-Wahl vor 30 Jahren: Sieg der D-Mark". Der Spiegel (in German). ISSN 2195-1349. Retrieved 9 November 2023.
^ Naimark, Norman M. The Russians In Germany: a History of the Soviet Zone of Occupation, 1945-1949. E-book, Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 1995
^ Kurt Sontheimer & Wilhelm Bleek. The Government and Politics of East Germany. New York: St. Martin's Press. 1975. p. 66.
^ Andreas Malchya: Der Ausba des neuen Systems 1949 bis 1961, Bundeszentrale für politische Bildung, last retrieved 2022-07-28.
^ "German Democratic Republic" (PDF). Chron. XX (1985-1986). Inter-Parliamentary Union. pp. 75–77. Retrieved 29 April 2020.
^ Sebestyen, Victor (2009). Revolution 1989: The Fall of the Soviet Empire. New York City: Pantheon Books. ISBN 978-0-375-42532-5.^{[page needed]}
^ Webb, Adrian (9 September 2014). Longman Companion to Germany since 1945. Routledge. p. 244. ISBN 9781317884231.
^ "People's Chamber Election Law" (PDF). 20 February 1990.
^ Dieter Nohlen & Philip Stöver (2010) Elections in Europe: A data handbook, p779 ISBN 978-3-8329-5609-7

External links

A Successful Policy Seared to the Needs of the People - Deliberations of the Volkskammer on nuclear disarmament, 1981.

[1] Lower house of bicameral legislature until 8 December 1958

[2] Pötzl, Norbert F. (18 March 2020). "Letzte DDR-Volkskammer-Wahl vor 30 Jahren: Sieg der D-Mark". Der Spiegel (in German). ISSN 2195-1349. Retrieved 9 November 2023.

[3] Naimark, Norman M. The Russians In Germany: a History of the Soviet Zone of Occupation, 1945-1949. E-book, Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 1995

[4] Kurt Sontheimer & Wilhelm Bleek. The Government and Politics of East Germany. New York: St. Martin's Press. 1975. p. 66.

[5] Andreas Malchya: Der Ausba des neuen Systems 1949 bis 1961, Bundeszentrale für politische Bildung, last retrieved 2022-07-28.

[6] "German Democratic Republic" (PDF). Chron. XX (1985-1986). Inter-Parliamentary Union. pp. 75–77. Retrieved 29 April 2020.

[7] Sebestyen, Victor (2009). Revolution 1989: The Fall of the Soviet Empire. New York City: Pantheon Books. ISBN 978-0-375-42532-5.^{[page needed]}

[8] Webb, Adrian (9 September 2014). Longman Companion to Germany since 1945. Routledge. p. 244. ISBN 9781317884231.

[9] "People's Chamber Election Law" (PDF). 20 February 1990.

[NS-10] Dieter Nohlen & Philip Stöver (2010) Elections in Europe: A data handbook, p779 ISBN 978-3-8329-5609-7

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v t e Elections and referendums in East Germany
General elections	1949 1950 1954 1958 1963 1967 1971 1976 1981 1986 1990
State elections	1946 1950
Local elections	1946 1950 1957 1961 1965 1970 1974 1979 1984 1989 1990
Referendums	1951 1954 1968

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