The last leader of the German Democratic Republic (GDR), Hans Modrow, died on Saturday at the age of 95, the Die Linke party reports on Twitter.
A reformist communist, Modrow took over leadership of the GDR shortly after the fall of the Berlin Wall and later invited opposition troops to the government, but failed to dampen the growing momentum for German reunification.
His turbulent tenure – from November 1989 to April 1990 – ended with the first free elections in the history of the GDR.
“The whole peaceful evolution of the establishment of German unity was precisely his special achievement,” reads Die Link’s message, adding that this is “his political legacy”.
Leader of the Communist Party in Dresden since 1973, Modrow built a reputation as an anti-establishment figure, after rejecting party favors and insisting on living in an ordinary apartment.
Modrow was born on January 27, 1928 in Jasenitz, in what was then East Prussia, now part of Poland.
At the end of World War II, he was captured by Soviet troops and sent to a re-education camp for German soldiers.
Already in the GDR, he began his political career in the youth organizations of the Unified Socialist Party (SED, in the German acronym), the result of the merger between the Communist Party and the Social Democratic Party imposed by the first party formation.
He served as a deputy in the Volkskammer (parliament) for 32 years and was a member of the Central Committee of the SED for 20 years.
However, the emergence of the Politburo, the party’s highest organ, did not take place until 1989 after the resignation of Erich Honnecker.
After becoming head of government, Modrow was responsible for organizing the transition to democracy.
Initially he defended the independence of the GDR, but later he favored a reunification of the two German states.
In the first and last free elections in the GDR, on March 18, 1990, the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) won the SPD and the Democratic Socialist Party (PDS), the heir to the SED.
In mid-April, Modrow handed over the baton to the Christian Democrat Lothar de Maizière, who was leading the negotiations for German reunification at the head of a coalition government with the SPD.
After reunification, Modrow was a member of the Bundestag (parliament that emerged from reunification) and an MEP until 2004.
After the merger of the PDS with Social Democracy splinter groups, which gave rise to Die Linke, Modrow criticized the party, which he said was increasingly in the hands of leaders of the former Federal Republic of Germany.
Source: DN
