Erich Honecker

Erich Honecker was a German politician who, as the General Secretary of the Socialist Unity Party, led the German Democratic Republic from 1971 until the weeks preceding the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989. From 1976 onward he was also the country's official head of state as chairman of the State Council following Willi Stoph's relinquishment of the post.
Socialist Unity Party of Germany

The Socialist Unity Party of Germany, established in April 1946, was the governing Marxist–Leninist political party of the German Democratic Republic from the country's foundation in October 1949 until its dissolution after the Peaceful Revolution in 1989.
Egon Krenz

Egon Rudi Ernst Krenz is a former East German politician who was the last communist leader of East Germany during the final months of 1989. He succeeded Erich Honecker as the General Secretary of the ruling Socialist Unity Party of Germany (SED), but was forced to resign only months later when the Berlin Wall fell.
Günter Schabowski

Günter Schabowski was an official of the Socialist Unity Party of Germany, the ruling party during most of the existence of the German Democratic Republic (GDR). Schabowski gained worldwide fame in November 1989 when he improvised a slightly mistaken answer to a press conference question, raising popular expectations much more rapidly than the government planned so that massive crowds gathered the same night at the Berlin Wall, forcing its opening after 28 years; soon after, the entire inner German border was opened.
Hans Modrow

Hans Modrow is a German left-wing politician and convicted criminal, best known as the last communist premier of East Germany and the country's de facto leader from 1989 to 1990. He was convicted of electoral fraud by the Dresden District Court in 1995. He is currently the honorary Chairman of the Left Party.
Christian Democratic Union (East Germany)

The Christian Democratic Union of Germany was an East German political party founded in 1945. It was part of the National Front with the Socialist Unity Party of Germany (SED) and a bloc party until 1989.
Otto Grotewohl

Otto Grotewohl was a German politician and the first prime minister of the German Democratic Republic from 1949 until his death in 1964.
Horst Sindermann

Horst Sindermann was a Communist German politician and one of the leaders of East Germany.
Politics of East Germany

The German Democratic Republic was created as a socialist republic on 7 October 1949 and began to institute a government based on that of the Soviet Union. The equivalent of the Communist Party in East Germany was the Sozialistische Einheitspartei Deutschlands, which along with other parties, was part of the National Front of Democratic Germany. It was created in 1946 through the merger of the Communist Party of Germany (KPD) and the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD) in the Soviet Occupation Zone of Germany. Following German reunification, the SED was renamed the Party of Democratic Socialism (PDS).
Order of Karl Marx

The Order of Karl Marx was the most important order in the German Democratic Republic (GDR). The award of the order also included a prize of 20,000 East German marks.
Alfred Neumann (East Germany)

Alfred "Ali" Neumann was a member of the Politburo of the Central Committee of the Socialist Unity Party of Germany, and for a short time, he was East German Minister of Materials Management.
Council of Ministers of East Germany

The Council of Ministers was the chief executive body of the German Democratic Republic from November 1950 until the country was unified with the Federal Republic of Germany on 3 October 1990. Originally formed as a body of 18 members, by 1989 the council consisted of 44 members.
State Council of East Germany

The State Council was the collective head of state that governed East Germany from 1960 to 1990.
National Defense Council of East Germany

The National Defense Council of the German Democratic Republic was created in 1960 as the supreme state body of the GDR in charge of national defense matters, including mobilization planning. The NVR held the supreme command of the GDR's armed forces, and the NVR's chairman was considered the GDR's commander-in-chief.
Ingeburg Lange

Ingeburg "Inge" Lange was an East German politician.
Modrow government

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.
Gerhard Schürer

Gerhard Schürer was a leading politician in East Germany.