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Christian Democratic Union (East Germany)
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{{Politics in Germany}}
The '''Christian Democratic Union of Germany''' was an
East German political party founded in
1945. It was part of the
National Front (East Germany) National Front with the
Socialist Unity Party of Germany (SED) until
1989.
It contended the free elections in
1990 as an arm of the West German
Christian-Democratic Union of Germany, which it merged into after
German Reunification.
Party politics
The CDU was primarily made up of
middle class Christianity Christians, that officially embraced
socialism after its Sixth Party Congress in
1952, declaring that socialist society affords the best opportunities for Christians to practise their
religion, a curious contradiction to
Karl Marx's thoughts on religion.
It should be noted, however, that the dominance of the SED was a major factor in the CDU's sudden embrace of socialism; by the early
1950s, the CDU was effectively an arm of the SED designed to appeal to Christians.
The East German Christian democrats voted always for the government proposals in Volkskammer, with the only exception being on March, 9,
1972 vote on abortion law, when there were 14 'nays' and 8 absentees among the CDU deputies {{ref|1}}.
In
1950s the leader of the CDU was
Otto Nuschke, a former member of German Democratic Party during the
Weimar Republic. He was a close ally of the Communists. In
1966 Gerald Goetting was elected as Chairman. Before that he was the party's General Secretary. Like Nuschke, Goetting was a loyal ally of the Communists.
Goetting remained Chairman until
2 November 1989, when he was replaced. In December
1989 Lothar de Maizière, a lawyer and deputy chairman of the Evangelical Church Synod of East Germany, was elected chairman. From that point the party deposed (and later expelled) its top figures and renounced socialism.
In March
1990 the CDU won the first, free general elections and became the biggest party in the
People's Chamber. In April De Maizìere became Prime Minister of the GDR.
In October
1990 the East German CDU merged with the
CDU West German CDU.
{{Christian Democracy}}
Chairmen
{| border="1"
|-----
|
Andreas Hermes ||
1945
|-----
|
Jakob Kaiser ||
1945-
1947
|-----
|
Otto Nuschke ||
1948-
1957
|-----
|
August Bach ||
1957-
1966
|-----
|
Gerald Goetting ||
1966-
1989
|-----
|
Wolfgang Heyl ||
1989 (acting)
|-----
|
Lothar de Maizière ||
1989-
1990
|}
General Secretaries
{| border="1"
|-----
|
Georg Dertinger ||
1946-
1949
|-----
|
Gerald Goetting ||
1949-
1966
|-----
|
Martin Kirchner ||
1989-
1990
|}
East German CDU Politicians
*
Sabine Bergmann-Pohl (Last Chief of State of the
GDR)
*
Emil Fuchs (Theologican)
*
Karl Grobbel (Co-founder of the Berlin Conference of European Catholic's)
*
Hubertus Guske (General Secretary of the Berlin Conference of European Catholics)
*
Ernst Lemmer (co-chairman of the CDU in
1947)
*
Angela Merkel (deputy spokesperson of
Lothar de Maizière's government and the united
Germany's first
Chancellor of Germany Bundeskanzerlin
*
Herbert Schirmer (Minister of Culture
1990)
*
Max Sefrin (Deputy Prime Minister)
*
Luitpold Steidle (Minister of Health Care)
*
Heinrich Toeplitz (Supreme Court of the
GDR)
*
Heinz Winkler (Minister of Reconstruction)
Reference
*{{note|1}}[http://www.adel-genealogie.de/CDU-Ost.html History of CDU-Ost (in German)]
External link
-
Christlich Demokratische Union of the GDR from ''chronik der wende''
Category:East German political parties
Category:Political parties in the former GDR
Category:1945 establishments
de:Christlich-Demokratische Union Deutschlands (DDR)
nl:Christlich Demokratische Union Deutschlands (DDR)
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