State Commissioner (Germany)
State Commissioner (German: Landesbevollmächtigter) was the title for the provisional heads of government of the New states of Germany shortly after reunification.
German reunification took effect on 3 October 1990, when the German Democratic Republic joined the Federal Republic of Germany as five re-established states. However, elections for the state governments of these five states took place on 14 October 1990 and the Landtag of these states elected the respective Minister-Presidents from late October to early November. Between the reunification and the election of the respective Minister-President, appointed state commissioner took on the role of heads of government,[1] as stipulated by the German Reunification Treaty.[2]
These state commissioner also represented their respective state in the Bundesrat, but only had an advisory vote.[3]
They had been appointed by Minister-President of the GDR Lothar de Maizière on 3 August 1990 as Landessprecher (English: State Speaker).[4] Most state commissioners had previously served as Regierungsbevollmächtigte for one of the Bezirke of the GDR that would later be re-organized to the New states; Brick for Neubrandenburg, Wolf for Potsdam, Krause for Leipzig and Duchač for Erfurt. There was some political controversy as to which Regierungsbevollmächtigter would become Landessprecher.[5]
Except for Karl-Hermann Steinberg, who was revealed to have worked for the East German Stasi, all state commissioners were elected to the respective Landtag and were appointed state ministers:
- Martin Brick was appointed Minister for Food, Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern
- Jochen Wolf was appointed Minister for Urban Development, Housing and Transportation of Brandenburg
- Rudolf Krause was appointed State Minister of the Interior of Saxony
Josef Duchač succeeded himself as Minister-President of Thuringia.
State Commissioners
[edit]| State | Name | Term | Party | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Took office | Left office | Days | |||
| Mecklenburg-Vorpommern | Martin Brick (born 1939) |
3 October 1990 | 27 October 1990 | 24 | Christian Democratic Union |
| Brandenburg | Jochen Wolf (1941–2022) |
3 October 1990 | 1 November 1990 | 29 | Social Democratic Party |
| Saxony-Anhalt | Karl-Hermann Steinberg (1941–2021) |
3 October 1990 | 28 October 1990 | 25 | Christian Democratic Union |
| Saxony | Rudolf Krause (born 1939) |
3 October 1990 | 27 October 1990 | 24 | Christian Democratic Union |
| Thuringia | Josef Duchač (born 1938) |
3 October 1990 | 8 November 1990 (succeeded himself as Minister-President of Thuringia) |
36 | Christian Democratic Union |
References
[edit]- ^ "Amtsblatt des Landes Sachsen-Anhalt vom 2. Okt. 1990" (in German). Landesbevollmächtigter des Landes Sachsen-Anhalt. 1990. Retrieved 2021-11-22.
- ^ Vertrag zwischen der Bundesrepublik Deutschland und der Deutschen Demokratischen Republik über die Herstellung der Einheit Deutschlands, 1990, pp. 6.
- ^ Vertrag zwischen der Bundesrepublik Deutschland und der Deutschen Demokratischen Republik über die Herstellung der Einheit Deutschlands, 1990, pp. 18.
- ^ "Die Wiedereinrichtung der Länder in der DDR" (in German). Mitteldeutscher Rundfunk. 29 November 2021. Retrieved 2022-06-27.
- ^ ""Machtpoker um Mitteldeutschland: Die Stunde der Polit-Amateure"". YouTube (in German). 22 September 2020. Retrieved 2022-06-27.