Hans Modrow

(b. Jasenitz, 27 Jan. 1928) German; head of government of GDR Nov. 1989 – Mar. 1990 Modrow completed an apprenticeship as a mechanic before military service in the Wehrmacht. Taken prisoner by the Soviets he was sent to an anti-Fascist indocrination camp. He owed his early success to his work in the Free German Youth (FDJ) and to his contacts with the Soviets.

Modrow headed the government of the GDR at the critical time between the end of the dominance of the Socialist Unity Party (SED), 18 November 1989, and the election of the first democratic government in East Germany in March 1990. Modrow was accepted because he had built up a reputation as a Communist in line with the principles of Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev. He was briefly made a member of the Politburo in an effort to boost sagging party morale. Modrow had previously served as SED first secretary in Dresden and before that in Berlin-Köpenick.

Modrow attempted to save what he could of the SED and the GDR, leading the former Communists (PDS) in the democratic elections of March 1990. After reunification he served as PDS member of the German parliament until 1994.

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Hans Modrow, 1989

Hans Modrow, 1990

Hans Modrow (born January 27, 1928) is a German politician, best known as the last communist premier of East Germany. He currently is the honorary Chairman of the Left Party.

Modrow was born in Jasenitz, Province of Pomerania, Germany, today as Jasienica part of the town of Police, Poland. He briefly served in the Volkssturm towards the end of World War II and was subsequently held as a prisoner of war. Upon release in 1949, he joined the Socialist Unity Party (SED).

Modrow had a long political career in East Germany, including periods as the First Secretary of the SED in Dresden in 1973 and as a member of the Volkskammer. He became premier following the resignation of Willi Stoph on November 13, 1989. After the ousting of Egon Krenz as leader of the Socialist Unity Party on December 7, Modrow became the de facto leader of East Germany, even though he did not become leader of the renamed Party of Democratic Socialism. Modrow remained premier until the elections on March 18, 1990.

After the German reunification, Modrow served as a member of the Bundestag and of the European Parliament (1999-2004).

In 1993 the German Federal Court found Modrow guilty on three counts of electoral fraud committed in the Dresden municipal elections in May 1989.

Preceded by Willi Stoph

Chairman of the Council of Ministers of the German Democratic Republic 1989–1990

Succeeded by Lothar de Maizière

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