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Volkskammer

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People's Chamber

Volkskammer
German Democratic Republic
State Arms of East Germany
Emblem
Type
Type
History
Founded7 October 1949 (1949-10-07)
Disbanded3 October 1990 (1990-10-03)
Preceded byReichstag (Nazi Germany) 1933–1945
Länderkammer (East Germany) 1949–1958
Succeeded byBundestag
Leadership
President
Vice President/Deputy President
Structure
Seats400
Political groups
Government (303)
  •   CDU/DA (197)[a]
  •   SPD (88)
  •   DSU (25)
  •   The Liberals (23)[b]

Opposition (97)

Government
(one-party state)
  •   National Front (466)[f]
    • Elections
    First election
    		15 October 1950
    Last election
    		18 March 1990
    Meeting place
    Palace of the Republic
    Palace of the Republic, East Berlin
    Constitution
    Constitution of East Germany
    Politics of East Germany
    Constitution
    Leadership
    Legislature
    • Elections
    • Referendums
    Political parties
    Administrative divisions
    East Berlin (independent)
    Leaders

    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

    [edit]

    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
    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]

    Protester, January 1990
    Ballot for the 1990 elections (written text reads "Sample")

    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]

    English Wikisource has original text related to this article:

    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 DemocratsDFP, 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

    [edit]

    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

    [edit]

    National front parties

    [edit]
    Party Emblem Flag 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

    [edit]
    Organization Emblem Flag 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

    [edit]
    Party Emblem 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

    [edit]

    1949 East German Constitutional Assembly election (first)

    [edit]
    Party or allianceVotes%Seats
    Democratic Bloc (East Germany)Socialist Unity Party of Germany7,943,94966.07450
    Christian Democratic Union (East Germany)225
    Liberal Democratic Party of Germany225
    Cooperatives100
    Democratic Farmers' Party of Germany75
    National Democratic Party of Germany (East Germany)75
    Democratic Women's League of Germany50
    Free German Trade Union Federation50
    Free German Youth50
    Cultural Association of the GDR50
    Peasants Mutual Aid Association50
    Union of Persecutees of the Nazi Regime50
    Social Democratic Party in the GDR25
    Independents50
    Against4,080,27233.930
    Total12,024,221100.001,525

    1986 East German general election (final under the SED)

    [edit]
    Party or allianceVotes%Seats
    National Front of the German Democratic RepublicSocialist Unity Party of Germany12,392,09499.94127
    Free German Trade Union Federation61
    Christian Democratic Union (East Germany)52
    Liberal Democratic Party of Germany52
    National Democratic Party of Germany (East Germany)52
    Democratic Farmers' Party of Germany52
    Free German Youth37
    Democratic Women's League of Germany32
    Cultural Association of the GDR21
    Peasants Mutual Aid Association14
    Against7,5120.060
    Total12,399,606100.00500

    1990 East German general election (final)

    [edit]
    Party or allianceVotes%Seats+/–
    Alliance for GermanyChristian Democratic Union4,710,59840.82163+111
    German Social Union727,7306.3125New
    Democratic Awakening106,1460.924New
    Total5,544,47448.04192+140
    Social Democratic Party2,525,53421.8888New
    Party of Democratic Socialism1,892,38116.4066–61
    Association of Free Democrats608,9355.2821–31
    Alliance 90336,0742.9112New
    Democratic Farmers' Party251,2262.189–43
    Green Party–Independent Women's Association226,9321.978New
    National Democratic Party44,2920.382–50
    Democratic Women's League38,1920.331–31
    United Left20,3420.181New
    Alternative Youth List (DJP–GJ–MJV–FDJ)14,6160.130–37
    Christian League10,6910.090New
    Communist Party8,8190.080New
    Independent Social Democratic Party3,8910.030New
    European Federalist Party3,6360.030New
    Independent People's Party3,0070.030New
    German Beer Drinkers' Union2,5340.020New
    Spartacist Workers Party2,4170.020New
    Unity Now2,3960.020New
    Federation of Socialist Workers3860.000New
    Association of Working Groups for Work Policy and Democracy3800.000New
    Total11,541,155100.004000
    Valid votes11,541,15599.45
    Invalid/blank votes63,2630.55
    Total votes11,604,418100.00
    Registered voters/turnout12,426,44393.38
    Source: Nohlen & Stöver,[9] IPU, Wahlen in Deutschland

    See also

    [edit]

    Notes

    [edit]
    1. ^ Lower house of bicameral legislature until 8 December 1958
    1. ^
    2. ^
    3. ^
    4. ^
    5. ^
    6. ^

    References

    [edit]
    1. ^ 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.
    2. ^ 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
    3. ^ Kurt Sontheimer & Wilhelm Bleek. The Government and Politics of East Germany. New York: St. Martin's Press. 1975. p. 66.
    4. ^ Andreas Malchya: Der Ausba des neuen Systems 1949 bis 1961, Bundeszentrale für politische Bildung, last retrieved 2022-07-28.
    5. ^ "German Democratic Republic" (PDF). Chron. XX (1985-1986). Inter-Parliamentary Union. pp. 75–77. Retrieved 29 April 2020.
    6. ^ Sebestyen, Victor (2009). Revolution 1989: The Fall of the Soviet Empire. New York City: Pantheon Books. ISBN 978-0-375-42532-5.[page needed]
    7. ^ Webb, Adrian (9 September 2014). Longman Companion to Germany since 1945. Routledge. p. 244. ISBN 9781317884231.
    8. ^ "People's Chamber Election Law" (PDF). 20 February 1990.
    9. ^ Dieter Nohlen & Philip Stöver (2010) Elections in Europe: A data handbook, p779 ISBN 978-3-8329-5609-7
    [edit]
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