Volkskammer

People's Chamber Volkskammer
German Democratic Republic
Emblem
Type
Type	Unicameral[note 1]
History
Founded	7 October 1949 (1949-10-07)
Disbanded	3 October 1990 (1990-10-03)
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
Structure
Seats	400
10th Volkskammer 1st Volkskammer
Political groups	Government (303)   CDU/DA (197)[a]   SPD (88)   DSU (25)   The Liberals (23)[b] Opposition (97)   PDS (66)   Alliance 90/The Greens (20)[c]   DBD/DFD (10)[d]   Non-attached (1)[e]Last Government Government (466) National Front   SED (110)   CDU (67)   LDPD (66)   FDGB (49)   NDPD (35)   DBD (33)   FDJ (25)   KB (24)   DFD (20)   VVN-BdA (19)   VdgB (12)   SPD (6)First government
Elections
First election	15 October 1950
Last election	18 March 1990
Meeting place
Palace of the Republic, East Berlin
Constitution
Constitution of East Germany

Politics of East Germany
Constitution 1949 1968
Leadership Socialist Unity Party General Secretary President (1949–1960) State Council (1960–1990) Head of State Council of Ministers Head of Government
Legislature President Chamber of States
Elections Referendums Constitutional Assembly 1949 General elections 1950 1954 1958 1963 1967 1971 1976 1981 1986 1990 Referendums 1951 1954 1968
Political parties Christian Democratic Union Democratic Farmers' Party Liberal Democratic Party National Democratic Party
Administrative divisions East Berlin (independent) Cottbus Dresden Erfurt Frankfurt Gera Halle Karl-Marx-Stadt Leipzig Magdeburg Neubrandenburg Potsdam Rostock Schwerin Suhl Leaders
Other countries
v t e

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.

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]

English Wikisource has original text related to this article:

Law on the Elections to the People's Chamber of the German Democratic Republic (1990)

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

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.

Parties and organizations represented

National front parties

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

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

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 Beginning 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 Beginning	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

See also

• Elections in East Germany
• Presidium of the People's Chamber
• Show election

Notes

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to People's Chamber of the German Democratic Republic.

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