Cabinet of Hans Modrow Government of National Responsibility
13th Cabinet of East Germany
Modrow is interviewed in the Palace of the Republic, the seat of the East German government.
Date formed	13 November 1989 (1989-11-13)
Date dissolved	12 April 1990 (1990-04-12) (4 months and 30 days)
People and organisations
Chairman of the State Council	Egon Krenz Manfred Gerlach
Chairman of the Council of Ministers	Hans Modrow
Deputy Chairman of the Council of Ministers	Christa Luft
Status in legislature	Government of national unity 500 / 500 (100%)
History
Legislature term(s)	9th Volkskammer
Predecessor	Sixth Stoph cabinet
Successor	de Maizière cabinet

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

The Modrow government refers to the final socialist government of the German Democratic Republic (GDR), which was led by Socialist Unity Party (SED) official Hans Modrow from November 1989 until East Germany's first democratically elected government took power on 18 March 1990.

Background

Spurred on by the liberal policies of Glasnost and Perestroika in the Soviet Union, and Mikhail Gorbachev's apparent tolerance of liberal reforms in other countries in the Warsaw Pact, protests began to spread in the German Democratic Republic in 1989. This culminated in a large increase in citizens escaping from the country during the summer of 1989 after Hungary dismantled its portion of the Iron Curtain. At the same time opposition to the incumbent SED was growing - on 9 October 1989, for example, 70,000 people took part in a demonstration in Leipzig calling for free elections and other democratic rights which had been denied to East German citizens since the founding of the GDR. On 18 October 1989 Erich Honecker was ousted as leader by his Politburo as a result of his unwillingness to confront the societal problems which had led to the mass exodus and political protest.^[1] The relatively youthful Egon Krenz who was chosen as successor proved to be ineffective, and on 9 November 1989 the Berlin Wall was opened, becoming a symbol of the SED's complete loss of power. Within the first four days of the Wall's opening, 4.3 million people or 25% of the East German population had made the trip across the border to West Germany with many choosing to remain there to take advantage of the higher quality of life. Since 8 November a new Politburo had been in power when the previous one had unanimously resigned. Amongst the new members was former First Secretary of the SED in Dresden Hans Modrow. Despite the personnel change the new government was unable to bring stability to the situation, with increased absenteeism through emigration and citizens taking trips to West Germany placing higher pressure on the East German economy.^[2]

Formation

Round Table

As a result of the increasingly fragmented nature of the East German political landscape^[3]

Composition

The Council of Ministers was composed as follows:^[4]

Committees

See also

• Die Wende
• German Reunification

References