Council of Ministers of East Germany

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Government of the Republic
Regierung der Republik (German)
Emblem
Overview
Established	November 1950
Dissolved	October 1990
State	German Democratic Republic
Leader	Chairman (styled Minister President in 1949 Constitution)
Appointed by	Volkshammer
Main organ	Council of Ministers
Ministries	see below
Headquarters	Altes Stadthaus, Berlin

The Council of Ministers (German: Ministerrat der Deutschen Demokratischen Republik) was the cabinet and head of government of the German Democratic Republic from November 1950 until the country was reunified on 3 October 1990.^[1] Originally formed as a body of 18 members, by 1989 the council consisted of 44 members.

Under the Constitution of East Germany, the Council of Ministers was formally defined as the government of East Germany. The same Constitution, however, officially confirmed the leading role of the Socialist Unity Party (SED). Hence, for most of the GDR's existence, the Council of Ministers was not the highest authority in the country, but was charged with implementing the SED's policies into practical administration. In particular, ministers were subordinate to the secretary of the Central Committee responsible for their portfolio, and, at least unofficially, to the General Secretary.

Structure[]

Group photo of Council of Ministers in 1981

The Council was led by a chairman (Vorsitzender), who was usually called "prime minister" in non-German sources. There were two first deputy chairmen and nine other deputy chairmen. Together with some key ministers they formed the presidency (Präsidium) of the Council. The Präsidium prepared all decisions in consultation with the responsible departments of the Central Committee (Zentralkomitee) of the Socialist Unity Party of Germany (SED) and especially the Politbüro of the SED Central Committee. The Präsidium managed the day-to-day affairs of the Council between its weekly meetings, which took place regularly on Wednesdays to execute the resolutions of the Politbüro’s weekly meetings (on Tuesdays). The secretaries and department managers in the Central Committee were authorized to give instructions to the ministers as necessary.

Officially, the prime minister held the highest state post in the GDR. Despite this, no SED first secretary/general secretary ever simultaneously served as prime minister.

The Altes Stadthaus in Berlin, seat of the Ministerrat der DDR from 1961 until 1990

Until the Wende in the fall of 1989, the two first deputy chairmen were Werner Krolikowski and Alfred Neumann, who were both members of the SED Politbüro. Other deputy chairmen included the leaders of the four allied parties (Blockparteien). Additional members included the chairman of the State Planning Commission, the president of the Staatsbank der DDR (State Bank of the GDR) and some state secretaries, who were usually office directors at the Council. All members of the Council were selected by the GDR Volkskammer (parliament) for a term of five years. Within the centralized state structure of the GDR, the city, county and district administrations were subordinated to the Council.

Willi Stoph and his entire cabinet resigned on 7 November 1989. Stoph was succeeded by Hans Modrow. The SED gave up its monopoly of power on 1 December. Modrow continued in office, leading a cabinet with both SED and non-communist members.^[1] For much of the winter of 1989 and 1990, he was the de facto leader of East Germany. Modrow was succeeded by Lothar de Maizière after what turned out to be the only free election ever held in East Germany, in March 1990. The de Maizière cabinet presided over the transition period to the reunification of the two Germanies in October 1990.

The former Prussian state parliament (Preußischer Landtag) served as the seat of the Council from 1950 to 1953. From 1961 to 1990 the Council's offices were located in the former Old City Hall of Berlin at No. 47 Klosterstraße. The Law Gazette of the GDR (Gesetzblatt der DDR) was also published by the Council. In addition, the Council’s Press Office made official government announcements and was responsible for the accreditation of foreign journalists in the GDR.

The individual ministries had their own headquarters buildings in East Berlin, although the former Reich Air Ministry building on Leipziger Straße housed the industrially-oriented ministries.

Chairmen of the Council of Ministers[]

Politics of East Germany
show Constitution 1949 1968
show Leadership Socialist Unity Party General Secretary President (1949–1960) State Council (1960–1990) Head of State Council of Ministers Head of Government
show Legislature President Chamber of States
show Elections Referendums Constitutional Assembly 1949 General elections 1950 1954 1958 1963 1967 1971 1976 1981 1986 1990 Referendums 1951 1954 1968
show Political parties Christian Democratic Union Democratic Farmers' Party Liberal Democratic Party National Democratic Party
show Administrative divisions East Berlin (independent) Cottbus Dresden Erfurt Frankfurt Gera Halle Karl-Marx-Stadt Leipzig Magdeburg Neubrandenburg Potsdam Rostock Schwerin Suhl Leaders
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No.	Portrait	Chairman	Took office	Left office	Time in office	Party
1		Grotewohl, OttoOtto Grotewohl (1894–1964)	12 October 1949	21 September 1964 †	14 years, 345 days	SED
2		Stoph, WilliWilli Stoph (1914–1999)	21 September 1964	3 October 1973	9 years, 12 days	SED
3		Sindermann, HorstHorst Sindermann (1915–1990)	3 October 1973	29 October 1976	3 years, 26 days	SED
(2)		Stoph, WilliWilli Stoph (1914–1999)	29 October 1976	7 November 1989	13 years, 9 days	SED
4		Modrow, HansHans Modrow (born 1928)	8 November 1989	12 April 1990	156 days	SED PDS
5		Maizière, LotharLothar de Maizière (born 1940)	12 April 1990	2 October 1990	173 days	CDU

Ministries[]

• Ministry of National Defense^*: Willi Stoph, Heinz Hoffmann, Heinz Kessler, Theodor Hoffmann, Rainer Eppelmann (1990)
• Ministry of Foreign Affairs: Georg Dertinger (1949–1953), Lothar Bolz (1953–1965), Otto Winzer (1965–1975), Oskar Fischer (1975–1990), Markus Meckel (1990), Lothar de Maizière, (1990)
• Ministry of State Security (Stasi)^**: Wilhelm Zaisser, Ernst Wollweber, Erich Mielke, Wolfgang Schwanitz
• Ministry of the Interior: Karl Steinhoff, Karl Maron, Friedrich Dickel; Lothar Ahrendt, Peter-Michael Diestel (1990)
• Ministry of Finance: Hans Loch, Willy Rumpf, Siegfried Böhm (1966–80), , Ernst Höfner (1981–90), Uta Nickel (1989/90), Walter Romberg, (1990)
• Ministry of Transport: , Erwin Kramer, Otto Arndt, , , (1990)
• Ministry for Posts and Telecommunications: Friedrich Burmeister, (CDU), (CDU), (1990)
• Ministry of Culture: Johannes R. Becher, Alexander Abusch, , Klaus Gysi, , Dietmar Keller, (1990)
• Ministry of National Education^***: , Fritz Lange, Alfred Lemmnitz, Margot Honecker (1963–1989, , )
• Ministry of Higher and Technical Education: ,
• Ministry of Science and Technology: (1974–89), at the same time 1967-89 one of the Deputy Chairmen of the MR; (LDPD)
• Ministry of Health: Luitpold Steidle (1949–58), (1958–71), , , (1990)
• Ministry of Environmental Protection and Water Management: (1971), (DBD), (1990)
• Ministry of Justice: Max Fechner, Hilde Benjamin, Kurt Wünsche (also 1990), Hans Joachim Heusinger (of both latter members of the LDPD)
• Minister and Chairman of the Workers' and Farmers' Inspection (Arbeiter- und Bauerninspektion): Heinz Matthes
• Chairman of the State Planning Commission: Heinrich Rau, , , Erich Apel, Gerhard Schürer
• Director of the Press Office: Kurt Blecha, Wolfgang Meyer

Ministries of the industries (1961-1965 in the course New Economic System were summarized the Ministries in national economy advice under his chairman Alfred Neumann):

• Ministry of Ore mining industry, metallurgy and potash: , (1967–89)
• Ministry of Electro-technology and electronics: ,
• Ministry of Coal and energy:
• Ministry of Chemical industry: , Günther Wyschofsky *Structure building industry: Lothar Bolz (1949–53), Heinz Winkler (1953–58), , (1963–89); , (1990)
• Ministry of Basic industry
• Ministry of Glass and ceramic(s) industry: , (1983–89)
• Ministry of Stock management: (1965–68), , Wolfgang Rauchfuß
• Ministry of Tool and building of processing machines: Rudi Georgi (1973–89)
• Ministry of General construction of vehicles, machine and agricultural machinery (since 1990: Mechanical engineering): Günther Kleiber, ,
• Ministry of Heavy machine and equipment construction (since 1990: Heavy industry): Fritz Selbmann, , Hans Joachim Lauck,
• Ministry of Land, forest and food processing industry: Ernst Goldenbaum, , , , ; , (1990)
• Ministry of Light Industry: , , Gunter Halm (NDPD)
• Ministry of District-led and foodstuffs industry: Erhard Krack,
• Ministry of Trade and supply: , Karl Hamann, , (1965–72), * Foreign trade: Georg Ulrich Handke, Heinrich Rau (1955–61), , , Gerhard Beil 1989 and/or 1990 again imported:
• Ministry of Economics (new since 1989): Christa Luft (1989/90), Gerhard Pohl (1990)
• Ministry of Tourism (new since 1989): (LDPD)
• Ministry of Work and Wages (new since 1989)/work and social (since 1990): Hannelore Mensch, * Family and women (new 1990): Christa Schmidt (CDU)

^* Renamed in 1990 as the Ministry for Disarmament and Defense.

^** Renamed on 17 November 1989 as the Office for National Security (Amt für Nationale Sicherheit - AfNS); abolished on 13 January 1990.

^*** Renamed in 1989 as the Ministry for Education and Youth.

See also[]

• State Council of the German Democratic Republic

References[]