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
Seats
400
Elections
First election
15 October 1950
Last election
18 March 1990
Meeting place
Palace of the Republic, 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
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The Volkskammer (German:[ˈfɔlkskamɐ], "People's Chamber") was the supreme power organ of the German Democratic Republic. 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]
Cite error: There are <ref group=note> tags on this page, but the references will not show without a {{reflist|group=note}} template (see the help page).
^Pötzl, Norbert F. (18 March 2020). "Letzte DDR-Volkskammer-Wahl vor 30 Jahren: Sieg der D-Mark". Der Spiegel (in German). ISSN 2195-1349. Retrieved 9 November 2023.
The Volkskammer (German: [ˈfɔlkskamɐ], "People's Chamber") was the supreme power organ of the German Democratic Republic. It was the only branch of government...
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list ("Einheitsliste") in elections to the East German parliament, the Volkskammer ("People's Chamber"). This "unity list" was the only list that citizens...
central committee of the party in 1973. He was also a member of the Volkskammer (East Germany's legislature) from 1971 to 1990, and a member of its presidium...
Länderkammer may introduce legislation to the Volkskammer and may reject legislation from the Volkskammer. The Volkskammer and Länderkammer may present their opinion...
After the Staatsrat was abolished on 5 April 1990, the president of the Volkskammer ("People's Chamber") served as head of state until East Germany joined...
held in East Germany on 8 June 1986. 500 deputies were elected to the Volkskammer, with all of them being candidates of the single-list National Front...
(CDU), won 192 seats and emerged as the largest bloc in the 400-seat Volkskammer, having run on a platform of speedy reunification with West Germany....
parties did have representation in the Volkskammer and received some posts in the government. The Volkskammer also included representatives from the mass...
member of the Socialist Unity Party's Central Committee and member of the Volkskammer in 1950. He was named to the Politbüro in 1953. He served as Interior...
founding of the country on 7 October 1949. There were 466 deputies in the Volkskammer, including 66 from East Berlin who were not directly elected. This election...
up to determine the statewide result. The recount fixed the number of Volkskammer members from each party who would be co-opted into the Bundestag elected...
of that time. LDPD member Johannes Dieckmann was the chairman of the Volkskammer from 1949 to 1969, and as such was ex officio vice president of the GDR...
The president of the Republic was elected by the People's Chamber (Volkskammer) and the Chamber of States (Länderkammer), the two chambers of parliament...
in East Germany on 16 November 1958. There were 466 deputies in the Volkskammer, including 66 from East Berlin who were not directly elected. All were...
held in East Germany on 14 June 1981. 500 deputies were elected to the Volkskammer, with all of them being candidates of the single-list National Front...
Council of Ministers and the president of the National legislature ("Volkskammer") were also members of the Politburo. The meetings of the Politburo of...
February 1990 in Berlin (then West Berlin) to stand in the East-German Volkskammer elections. It consisted of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU), Democratic...
in East Germany on 17 October 1954. It was the second election to the Volkskammer, which had 466 deputies; due to the four-power status of the city of...
between the two existing political, social, and economic systems. The Volkskammer, the Parliament of East Germany, passed a resolution on 23 August 1990...
of 591 candidates of the single-list National Front for the 500-seat Volkskammer, 500 were elected from the highest number of votes received in each of...
at a special session of the Volkskammer, which began at 9 p.m. After a heated debate, the President of the Volkskammer, Sabine Bergmann-Pohl, announced...
approved the choice, naming Krenz in his resignation speech, and the Volkskammer duly elected him. Although Krenz promised reforms in his first public...
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