View source for Socialist Unity Party of Germany

{{Short description|Founding and ruling party of East Germany}}
{{redirect|Socialist Unity Party}}
{{Infobox political party
| country          = East Germany
| name             = Socialist Unity Party of Germany
| native_name      = Sozialistische Einheitspartei Deutschlands
| logo             = Sozialistische Einheitspartei Deutschlands Logo.svg
| logo_size        = 150px
| general_secretary = [[Walter Ulbricht]] (1950–1971)<br />[[Erich Honecker]] (1971–1989)<br />[[Egon Krenz]] (1989)
| foundation       = {{start date|1946|04|21|df=yes}}
| dissolution      = {{end date|1989|12|19|df=yes}}
| merger           = * [[Communist Party of Germany|KPD]]{{cref|GDR}}
* [[Social Democratic Party of Germany|SPD]]{{cref|GDR}}
| successor        = [[Party_of_Democratic_Socialism_(Germany)#Fall_of_communism|SED-PDS]]
| blank1_title     = [[West Germany|West German]] affiliation
| blank1           = {{plainlist|
* [[Communist Party of Germany]] (until 1956)
* [[German Communist Party]] (from 1968)
}}
| headquarters     = [[Haus am Werderschen Markt]], [[East Berlin]]
| anthem           = "[[Lied der Partei]]"<ref>{{cite web
 |url=http://www.dw.com/en/things-to-know-about-germanys-satirical-party-die-partei/a-40370231
 |title=Things to know about Germany's satirical party Die Partei
 |last=Knight
 |first=Ben
 |date=5 September 2017
 |website=[[Deutsche Welle]]
 |access-date=25 February 2018
 |quote=The name also serves as a reference to the Socialist Unity Party (SED) that ruled East Germany, which was routinely called simply "the Party" in the communist state, and whose anthem "The Party, The Party, it is always right" has been adopted by Die Partei in their own ads.}}</ref><br />({{lit|Song of the Party}})
| newspaper        = ''{{lang|de|[[Neues Deutschland]]}}''
| youth_wing       = [[Free German Youth]]
| wing1_title      = [[Pioneer movement|Pioneer wing]]
| wing1            = [[Ernst Thälmann Pioneer Organisation]]
| wing2_title      = Paramilitary wing
| wing2            = [[Combat Groups of the Working Class]]
| wing3_title      = Labour wing
| wing3            = [[Free German Trade Union Federation]]
| membership       = 2,260,979 (1989 {{estimation}})<ref>Dirk Jurich, ''Staatssozialismus und gesellschaftliche Differenzierung: eine empirische Studie'', p.31. LIT Verlag Münster, 2006, {{ISBN|3825898938}}</ref>
| ideology         = {{plainlist|class=nowrap|
* [[Communism]]<ref name=radical-left>{{cite book |last1=Escalona |first1=Fabien |last2=Keith |first2=Daniel |last3=March |first3=Luke |date=2023-04-17 |title=The Palgrave Handbook of Radical Left Parties in Europe |url=https://books.google.com/books/about/The_Palgrave_Handbook_of_Radical_Left_Pa.html?id=wTu6EAAAQBAJ&source=kp_book_description |publisher=[[Springer Nature]] |page=235-236 |isbn=1137562641 |quote=The story of the radical left in Germany can be told in two parts: in divided Germany during the Cold War and in unified Germany after 1989. In the German Democratic Republic, the only relevant party was the Socialist Unity Party (SED), the ruling communist party |access-date=2025-08-15}}</ref>
* [[Marxism–Leninism]]<ref>{{cite book |last1=Derbyshire |first1=J Denis |last2=Derbyshire |first2=Ian |date=1989 |title=Political Systems Of The World |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=DIkWJ3psB2gC&pg=PA115 |format=PDF |publisher=Allied Publishers Limited |page=115 |isbn= 978-81-7023-307-7 |access-date=2025-01-31}}</ref>{{efn|The party was committed to Marxism–Leninism throughout its existence, with [[Stalinism]] exerted as the dominant form of Marxism–Leninism.<ref>Gabriel Berger: ''Mir langt’s, ich gehe. Der Lebensweg eines DDR-Atomphysikers von Anpassung zu Aufruhr''. Herder, Freiburg im Breisgau 1988, ISBN 3-451-08408-2, S. 42.</ref><ref name=":7">{{Cite book |last=Uschner |first=Manfred |author-link=Manfred Uschner |title=Die zweite Etage: Funktionsweise eines Machtapparates |date= |publisher=Dietz |year=1995 |isbn=978-3-320-01792-7 |edition= |series=Zeitthemen |location=Berlin |pages= |language=de}}</ref>{{rp||pages=134–135}}}}
}}
| national         = {{Plainlist|
* {{nowrap|[[Democratic Bloc (East Germany)|Democratic Bloc]] (1946–1950)}}
* [[National Front (East Germany)|National Front]] (1950–1990)}}
| regional         = [[Socialist Unity Party of West Berlin]] (1962–1989)
| international    = [[Cominform]] (1947–1956)
| colours          = {{Color box|{{party color|Socialist Unity Party of Germany}}|border=silver}} [[Political colour#Red|Red]] (official)<ref>{{Cite book|title=Color Design Workbook: A Real World Guide to Using Color in Graphic Design|last1=Adams|first1=Sean|last2=Morioka|first2=Noreen|last3=Stone|first3=Terry Lee|date=2006|publisher=Rockport Publishers|isbn=159253192X|location=Gloucester, Massachusetts|pages=[https://archive.org/details/colordesignworkb0000ston/page/86 86]|oclc=60393965|url=https://archive.org/details/colordesignworkb0000ston/page/86}}</ref>
| colorcode        = {{party color|Socialist Unity Party of Germany}}
| footnotes        = {{cnote|GDR|East German branch}}
{{Notelist}}
| flag             = Flagge der SED.svg{{!}}200px
}}
{{Politics of East Germany}}

The '''Socialist Unity Party of Germany''' ({{langx|de|'''Sozialistische Einheitspartei Deutschlands'''}}, {{IPA|de|zotsi̯aˈlɪstɪʃə ˈʔaɪnhaɪtspaʁˌtaɪ ˈdɔʏtʃlants|pron|De-Sozialistische Einheitspartei Deutschlands.ogg}}; '''SED''', {{IPA|de|ˌɛsʔeːˈdeː|pron|De-SED.ogg}})<ref>{{cite book |last=Orlow |first=Dietrich |date= 29 October 2015|title=Socialist Reformers and the Collapse of the German Democratic Republic |publisher=Springer |isbn=9781137574169}}</ref> was the founding and [[ruling party]] of the [[German Democratic Republic]] (GDR) from the country's establishment in 1949 until the [[Peaceful Revolution]] of 1989. Formed in 1946 through a [[Unification of the Communist Party of Germany and Social Democratic Party of Germany|forced merger]] of the East German branches of the [[Communist Party of Germany]] and the [[Social Democratic Party in the GDR|Social Democratic Party of Germany]], the SED aimed to consolidate working-class politics under a common platform of [[Marxism–Leninism]].<ref>{{cite book|title=Political Systems of the World|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=DIkWJ3psB2gC&pg=PA115|publisher=Allied Publishers| isbn=978-81-7023-307-7| pages=115–}}</ref> The SED played a central role in the building of East Germany’s socialist institutions, economy and governance, steering the country's development in line with a planned economy and collective social welfare. 

The SED was structured according to [[democratic centralism]], with authority flowing from the [[#Party Congresses|Party Congress]] through the Central Committee to the [[Politburo]]. Though the Party Congress formally held supreme authority, the Politburo and the Secretariat carried out decision-making between congresses. The SED's General Secretary wielded absolute power, often serving concurrently in key state roles. [[Walter Ulbricht]], the party's leading figure from the early 1950s until 1971, oversaw the construction of East Germany's socialist economy and institutions, but was eventually deposed for a series of failed economic reforms aimed at raising the GDR's competitiveness, as well as a worsening relationship with the Soviets. His successor, [[Erich Honecker]], presided over a period of increasing economic stagnation until 1989. The SED promoted universal education and healthcare, the collectivisation of agriculture and the nationalisation of industry, while placing emphasis on ideological training, including mandatory instruction in Marxism–Leninism and the [[Russian language]] in schools and universities.<ref>{{cite book|title=East German Distinctiveness in a Unified Germany|url=https://archive.org/details/eastgermandistin00grix|url-access=limited|last1=Grix|first1=Jonathan|last2=Cooke|first2=Paul|year=2003|page=[https://archive.org/details/eastgermandistin00grix/page/n25 17]|publisher=A&C Black |isbn=1902459172}}</ref> Near the end of the [[Cold War]], it remained skeptical of ''[[perestroika]]'' and ''[[glasnost]]'' under Soviet leader [[Mikhail Gorbachev]], viewing these as destabilising for the socialist project. This position eventually contributed to East Germany's political isolation and the rapid transformation that followed in 1989.

In the wake of the [[Peaceful Revolution]] and the [[reunification of Germany]], the SED's reformist elements moved swiftly to reposition the party within a pluralist system. In December 1989, it reconstituted itself as the [[Party of Democratic Socialism (Germany)|Party of Democratic Socialism]] (PDS), formally abandoning [[Marxism–Leninism]] and endorsing [[democratic socialism]]. The PDS achieved significant electoral support in eastern Germany during the 1990s, securing 16.4% of the vote in the [[1990 East German general election]]. In 2007, it merged with [[Labour and Social Justice – The Electoral Alternative|Labour and Social Justice]] (WASG) to form [[The Left (Germany)|The Left]] (''Die Linke''), which remains a parliamentary force in the [[Bundestag]], continuing to represent the legacy of East German socialism within a democratic framework in a reunified Germany.

==Early history==
[[File:Fotothek df pk 0000172 011 Porträt, Ernst.jpg|thumb|300px|right|{{left |21 April 1946: [[Otto Grotewohl]] (right) and [[Wilhelm Pieck]] (left) seal the [[Merger of the KPD and SPD into the Socialist Unity Party of Germany|unification of the SPD and KPD]] with a symbolic handshake. [[Walter Ulbricht]] is seated in the foreground to the right of Grotewohl.}}{{right |''[[Avraham Pisarek]]''}}]]
The SED was founded on 21 April 1946 [[Merger of the KPD and SPD into the Socialist Unity Party of Germany|by a merger]] of the [[Social Democratic Party in the GDR|Social Democratic Party of Germany]] (SPD) and the [[Communist Party of Germany]] (KPD) which was based in the [[Soviet occupation zone]] of Germany and the Soviet-occupied sector of Berlin. Official East German and Soviet histories portrayed this merger as a voluntary pooling of efforts by the socialist parties.<ref>On the discussion about Social Democrats joining the SED see Steffen Kachel, Entscheidung für die SED 1946 – ein Verrat an sozialdemokratischen Idealen?, in: ''[[Jahrbuch für Forschungen zur Geschichte der Arbeiterbewegung]]'', No. I/2004.</ref> However, there is much evidence that the merger was more troubled than commonly portrayed. By all accounts, the Soviet occupation authorities applied great pressure on the SPD's eastern branch to merge with the KPD. The newly merged party, with the help of the Soviet authorities, swept to victory in the 1946 elections for local and regional assemblies held in the Soviet zone. However, these elections were held under less-than-secret conditions, thus setting the tone for the next four decades. Conversely, in the [[1946 Berlin state election|Berlin City Council elections]] held that same year, the merger fared more poorly. In that contest, the SED received less than half the votes of the SPD. The bulk of the Berlin SPD remained aloof from the merger, even though Berlin was deep inside the Soviet zone.

The [[Soviet Military Administration in Germany]] ([[Russian language|Russian]] initials: SVAG) directly governed the eastern areas of Germany following World War II, and their intelligence operations carefully monitored all political activities. An early intelligence report from [[SVAG]] Propaganda Administration director Lieutenant Colonel [[Sergei Ivanovich Tiulpanov]] indicates that the former KPD and SPD members created different factions within the SED and remained mutually quite antagonistic for some time after the formation of the new party. The report also noted considerable difficulty in convincing the masses that the SED was an authentic German political party and not merely a tool of the Soviet occupation force.

According to Tiulpanov, many former members of the KPD expressed the sentiment that they had "forfeited [their] revolutionary positions, that [the KPD] alone would have succeeded much better had there been no SED, and that the Social Democrats are not to be trusted" (Tiulpanov, 1946). Tiulpanov also indicated that there was a marked "political passivity" among former SPD members, who felt they were being treated unfairly and as second-class party members by the new SED administration. As a result, the early SED party apparatus frequently became effectively immobilised as former KPD members began discussing any proposal, however small, at great length with former SPD members, so as to achieve consensus and avoid offending them. Soviet intelligence claimed to have a list of names of an SPD group within the SED that was covertly forging links with the SPD in the West and even with the [[Western Bloc|Western Allied]] occupation authorities.

A problem for the Soviets that they identified with the early SED was its potential to develop into a nationalist party. At large party meetings, members applauded speakers who talked of nationalism much more than when they spoke of solving social problems and gender equality. Some even proposed the idea of establishing an independent German socialist state free of both Soviet and Western influence, and of soon regaining [[Former eastern territories of Germany|the formerly German land]] that the [[Yalta Conference]], and ultimately the [[Potsdam Conference]], had allocated to Poland, the USSR, and Czechoslovakia.<!-- Unsourced image removed: [[Image:Congress_5_der_SED_grotewhol_speech.jpg|thumb|280px|East German Premier [[Otto Grotewohl]] addresses the Fifth Congress in July 1958.]] --> The SED began to integrate former members of the [[Nazi Party]] at its founding. However, the strategy was controversial within the party. The SED therefore set up the [[National Democratic Party of Germany (East Germany)|National Democratic Party of Germany (NDPD)]] in 1948 as satellite party that could serve as a pool for former Nazis and Wehrmacht officers. Nonetheless, the SED continued to absorb former Nazi Party members. By 1954, 27 percent of all members of the SED and 32.2 percent of all public service employees were former members of the Nazi Party.<ref>{{cite news |last=Pötzl |first=Norbert F. |date=26 May 2015 |title=Karrieren ehemaliger Nazis in der DDR: Erst braun, dann rot |url=https://www.spiegel.de/kultur/erst-braun-dann-rot-a-00000000-0002-0001-0000-000135112065 |language=German |newspaper=[[Der Spiegel (website)|Der Spiegel]] |publisher=Der Spiegel GmbH & Co. KG |location=Hamburg |access-date=6 July 2021 |quote=Aber auch die SED sog weiter ehemalige NSDAP-Leute auf. 1954 waren 27 Prozent aller Mitglieder der kommunistischen Staatspartei zuvor in der Hitler-Partei und deren Gliederungen gewesen. Und 32,2 Prozent aller damaligen Angestellten im Öffentlichen Dienst gehörten früher einmal nationalsozialistischen Organisationen an. }}</ref>

Soviet negotiators reported that SED politicians frequently went beyond the boundaries of the political statements which had been approved by the Soviet monitors, and there was some initial difficulty making regional SED officials realize that they should think carefully before opposing the political positions decided upon by the Central Committee in Berlin.

==A monopoly of power==
Although the SED was nominally the product of a merger between the Communist Party of Germany (KPD) and the eastern Social Democratic Party (SPD), it quickly became dominated by Communist leaders. From its foundation in 1946, Soviet occupation authorities and Communist cadres marginalised and purged dissenting Social Democrats, and by the time of the GDR’s formal establishment in 1949, the SED had effectively become a continuation of the KPD under a new name, adhering to strict Marxist–Leninist principles and following the model of Soviet-aligned parties.<ref>{{cite book |last=Fulbrook |first=Mary |title=The People’s State: East German Society from Hitler to Honecker |publisher=Yale University Press |year=2006 |isbn=9780300108842 |pages=31–34}}</ref>

Though other parties continued to exist, they were compelled by Soviet authorities to participate in the [[National Front (East Germany)|National Front]], a coalition effectively controlled by the SED. By ensuring Communist dominance on the National Front’s candidate lists, the SED predetermined legislative representation in both the Soviet zone and the post‑1949 GDR. Over the decades, it became known as one of the most ideologically rigid parties in the Eastern Bloc. When Soviet leader [[Mikhail Gorbachev]] introduced reforms such as ''perestroika'' and ''glasnost'' in the 1980s, the SED rejected them, reinforcing its image as a hardline communist force.<ref>{{cite book |last=McCauley |first=Martin |title=The German Democratic Republic since 1945 |publisher=Palgrave Macmillan |year=1986 |isbn=9780312325541 |pages=141–143}}</ref>

==Organisation==
===Basic organisation===
The party organisation was based on, and co-located with, the institutions of the German Democratic Republic. Its influence stood behind and shaped every facet of public life. The party required every member to live by the mantra "Where there is a comrade, the party is there too" (''Wo ein Genosse ist, da ist die Partei'').<ref name=JSabPanSED>{{cite web |url=http://www.bundesstiftung-aufarbeitung.de/uploads/pdf-2010/pannen.pdf |title="Wo ein Genosse ist, da ist die Partei!"? – Stabilität und Erosion an der SED-Parteibasis |author=Sabine Pannen |publisher=Bundesstiftung zur Aufarbeitung der SED-Diktatur, Berlin |access-date=23 March 2015 |archive-date=4 March 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304101910/http://www.bundesstiftung-aufarbeitung.de/uploads/pdf-2010/pannen.pdf |url-status=dead }}</ref> This meant that the party organisation was at work in [[Volkseigener Betrieb|publicly owned industrial and quasi-commercial enterprises]], [[machine and tractor station]]s, [[Volkseigenes Gut|publicly owned farms]] and in the larger [[Landwirtschaftliche Produktionsgenossenschaft|agricultural cooperatives]], expressly mandated to monitor and regulate the operational management of each institution.

The smallest organisational unit in the party was the Party Group. Group members elected one of their number Party Group Organiser (PGO), to take responsibility for Party Work. There were also a [[Treasurer]], an Agitator, and according to the size of the group other associated members included in the Party Group leadership. If there were several Party Groups operating in a single place they would be combined in a Departmental Party Organisation (APO / ''Abteilungsparteiorganisation'') which in turn would have its own leadership and an APO Party Secretariat.

===Party conference===
The {{ill|Party congresses of the Socialist Unity Party of Germany|de|Parteitag der SED|lt=Party conference}} was formally the party's leading institution.

Increasingly, party conferences were planned with military-level precision. Their choreography was carefully undertaken to ensure that they were understood as high-profile society events. They were very much more than mere political functions. Delegates were selected from the regional and sectional party organisations according to criteria determined by the Party Central Committee. Care was taken over the proportions of women, of youth representatives, of members from approved [[Mass movement (politics)|Mass organisations]] and of "exemplary" workers.

===Party Secretaries===
Party secretaries existed at different levels within the party. They usually held their offices on an unsalaried basis, often combining their party secretarial duties with a salaried function. Where a basic administrative unit grew beyond certain size tension tended to arise between the party secretary and fellow committee members, and at this point a full-time salaried party secretary would be appointed. Party secretaries in very large industrial combines and other economically important institutions would combine their party secretarial roles with membership of a more powerful body, applying a structural element maintained right up to the level of the Party Central Committee. The task of the Party Secretaries was the organisation of political work. They prepared the party meetings and organised political training in partnership with the party leaderships. They ensured implementation of and compliance with party decisions and undertook general reporting and leadership duties. They were also required to provide a monthly report on "Morale and Opinions" (''"Stimmungen und Meinungen"'') concerning the people covered by their party secretarial duties.

Where work on occasion attracted criticism, there were many ways on which changes could be passed on. This fact lay behind the burgeoning bureaucratization of the party apparatus and the presence of Stalinist tendencies. Party secretaries underwent a special monthly political process that included instructive guidance and verification by representatives from higher level party committees. Along with their party responsibilities, party secretaries were members of the state administration, and they secured the leadership role that the SED claimed for itself in businesses and offices. Managerial decisions were discussed and ultimately decided in party committees. This meant that a manager, provided he was a party member, was committed to implementing those decisions.

===Sectional directorates===
The basic organisional unit in an organisation or department was placed under the control of the party's sectional leadership team (''"SED-Kreisleitung"''). There were in total 262 of these sectional leadership teams, including one each for the [[Free German Youth|Free German Youth (FDJ)]], the [[Free German Trade Union Federation|Trade Union Federation (FDGB)]], the Foreign Ministry, the Foreign Trade Ministry, the State Railway organisation, the military branches of the Interior Ministry, the [[Stasi|Ministry for State Security (Stasi)]], the [[National People's Army]], each of which had its own integrated political-administrative structure.

===Regional directorates===
The party's regional structure started with the country's fifteen regions. Regional level government structure changed dramatically with the abolition of regional assemblies in 1952, but each administrative structure always had a party secretary, applying a structure also replicated in administrative structures at local levels.

The regional party leadership team (''"SED Bezirksleitung"''/ BL) was an elected body analogous to the Central Committee, membership of which was unpaid. It worked alongside the administrative body of paid officials who were occasionally also members of the party leadership team.

At a regional level the SED leadership team was headed by a Secretariat. The Secretariats always had a First Secretary (also responsible for Security Affairs) and a Second Secretary (also responsible for Cadre Affairs), and secretaries responsible for [[Agitprop|"Agitation and propaganda"]], Economy, Science, Culture and Agriculture. There were also regional teams to shadow the regional teams of national institutions such as the [[Free German Youth|FDJ]], the [[Free German Trade Union Federation|FDGB]] and the Planning Commission. The First Secretaries of the regional FDJ and chairmen of the regional FDGB and Planning Commission were always Secretariat members too.

First Secretaries of regional party organisations held significant power in their respective regions, with some First Secretaries such as [[Hans-Joachim Böhme]] or [[Hans Albrecht (politician)|Hans Albrecht]] being described as despotic, sometimes dictatorial. First Secretaries were always full members of the Central Committee and sometimes even candidate or full members (always the First Secretary in East Berlin) of the Politburo. First Secretaries of Bezirke that had a significant border with West Germany usually also served on the [[National Defence Council (East Germany)|National Defence Council]].

{| class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align: center;"
|+Bezirksleitung First Secretaries in early 1989
!Bezirk
!First Secretary
!incumbent since
!note
|-
|[[Bezirk Rostock]]
|[[Ernst Timm]]
|29 April 1975
|
|-
|[[Bezirk Neubrandenburg]]
|[[Johannes Chemnitzer]]
|16 February 1963
|
|-
|[[Bezirk Schwerin]]
|[[Heinz Ziegner]]
|28 January 1974
|
|-
|[[Bezirk Potsdam]]
|[[Günther Jahn]]
|23 January 1976
|
|-
|[[Bezirk Frankfurt|Bezirk Frankfurt (Oder)]]
|[[Christa Zellmer]]
|3 November 1988
|
|-
|[[Bezirk Cottbus]]
|[[Werner Walde]]
|1 June 1969
|Politburo candidate member
|-
|[[Bezirk Magdeburg]]
|[[Werner Eberlein]]
|15 June 1983
|Politburo member
[[National Defence Council (East Germany)|National Defence Council]] member
|-
|[[Bezirk Halle]]
|[[Hans-Joachim Böhme]]
|4 May 1981
|Politburo member
|-
|[[Bezirk Leipzig]]
|[[Horst Schumann (politician)|Horst Schumann]]
|21 November 1970
|
|-
|[[Bezirk Dresden]]
|[[Hans Modrow]]
|3 October 1973
|
|-
|[[Bezirk Karl-Marx-Stadt]]
|[[Siegfried Lorenz (politician)|Siegfried Lorenz]]
|1 March 1976
|Politburo member
|-
|[[Bezirk Erfurt]]
|[[Gerhard Müller (politician)|Gerhard Müller]]
|11 April 1980
|Politburo candidate member
|-
|[[Bezirk Gera]]
|[[Herbert Ziegenhahn]]
|14 February 1963
|
|-
|[[Bezirk Suhl]]
|[[Hans Albrecht (politician)|Hans Albrecht]]
|15 August 1968
|National Defence Council member
|-
|[[East Berlin]]{{efn|East Berlin was not officially counted as a Bezirk, but the East Berlin party organisation was still a Bezirksleitung}}
|[[Günter Schabowski]]
|22 November 1985
|Politburo member
|-
|[[Wismut (company)|Wismut]]{{efn|The party organisation at Wismut was called ''Gebietsparteileitung'' ({{langx|en|Territorial Party Organization}}) and had the rank of a Bezirksleitung. This contrasted with the party organisations at almost all other large industrial enterprises, who only held Kreisleitung rank.)}}
|[[Alfred Rohde]]
|5 February 1971
|
|}

===Central Committee===
{{Quote box|align=right|

<timeline>
ImageSize = width:380 height:330
PlotArea  = width:320 height:220 left:40 bottom:70
AlignBars = late

DateFormat = yyyy
Period = from:0 till:220
TimeAxis = orientation:vertical
ScaleMajor = unit:year increment:20 start:20 gridcolor:drabgreen

PlotData=
  color:skyblue width:28 #feste Mitglieder
  bar:1954 from:start till:91
  bar:1958 from:start till:111
  bar:1963 from:start till:121
  bar:1967 from:start till:131
  bar:1971 from:start till:135
  bar:1976 from:start till:145
  bar:1981 from:start till:156

  color:blue width:15 #Mitglieder und Kandidaten aus Partei- und Staatsapparat
  bar:1954 from:start till:67
  bar:1958 from:start till:95
  bar:1963 from:start till:109
  bar:1967 from:start till:115
  bar:1971 from:start till:121
  bar:1976 from:start till:127
  bar:1981 from:start till:129

  color:skyblue width:18 #feste Mitglieder plus Kandidaten
  bar:1954 from:start till:135
  bar:1958 from:start till:125
  bar:1963 from:start till:181
  bar:1967 from:start till:181
  bar:1971 from:start till:189
  bar:1976 from:start till:202
  bar:1981 from:start till:211

TextData=
  pos:(10,310) fontsize:11 text: Central Committee Membership numbers 1954 to 1981
  pos:(10,40) fontsize:8 text: "Pale bar: Members (wide bar), Candidates for membership (narrow bar)"
  pos:(10,25) fontsize:8 text: "Dark bar: Members and Candidates from the Party and State administration"
  pos:(10,5) fontsize:8 text: "e.g. 1958:  111 Members, 14 Candidates of which 95 were already insiders"
</timeline>
}}
When the Party Congress was not in session, the Central Committee was the party's leading element. Power was centred on the Committee Secretariat, which was chaired by a General Secretary, named First Secretary from 1953 to 1976. This function was combined with chairmanship of the Politburo. The General Secretary until 1971 was [[Walter Ulbricht]]: he was deposed by [[Erich Honecker]], who in turn was deposed by [[Egon Krenz]]. Unlike in the Soviet Union, the SED only had "Second Secretaries" on the local and regional levels, but not in the Central Committee. That being said, some Politburo members and secretaries held an unofficial number two spot, most notably [[Karl Schirdewan]] and then Honecker during the tenure of [[Walter Ulbricht]] and [[Paul Verner]], then [[Egon Krenz]] during the tenure of Honecker.

In the political hierarchy of the GDR, members of the Central Committee ranked above government ministers.

In July 1950, at the third Party Conference, the SED's Central Committee was elected on the [[Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union|Soviet model]], which at this time employed a single list electoral system: most members of the serving party executive were replaced. It was striking that more than 62% of the new Central Committee members had been members of the [[Communist Party of Germany|Communist Party (KPD)]] before the party merger of 1946. Four years on, there was little sign of the KPD/SPD parity that had been invoked when the SED was created.<ref>Heike Amos, ''Politik und Organisation der SED-Zentrale 1949–1963: Struktur und Arbeitsweise von Politbüro, Sekretariat, Zentralkomitee und ZK-Apparat'', LIT Verlag, Berlin/Hamburg/Münster 2003, {{ISBN|978-3-82586-187-2}}, p. 65.</ref>

By [[Die Wende|1989]], membership of the Central Committee had increased to 165: there were also 57 people listed as candidates for membership. All the high ranking party functionaries were represented in it along with other senior government officials (provided they were already party members). Beyond the professional functionaries and politicians the Committee also included the chiefs of the country's leading institutions and industrial combines, the president of the country's [[Deutscher Schriftstellerverband|Writers' Association]], top military officers and party veterans.

The Party Central Committee, reflecting the country's overall power structure, was overwhelmingly male: the proportion of women never rose above 15%.

====Central Party Control Commission====
{{Main|Central Party Control Commission of the Socialist Unity Party of Germany}}
The [[Central Party Control Commission of the Socialist Unity Party of Germany|Central Party Control Commission]] (ZPKK) was the supreme disciplinary body of the SED operating under and elected by the SED Central Committee. Its role was enforcing conformity and eliminating perceived opposition within the party ranks, closely working with the [[Stasi]] and [[Volkspolizei]]. It had corresponding bodies at all levels of the party in the form of Bezirk (BPKK) and district Party Control Commissions (KPKK). Notable ZPKK victims include [[Robert Havemann]] and [[Rudolf Herrnstadt]].

There also existed a Central Auditing Commission (ZRK) to inspect the party finances analogous to the [[Central Auditing Commission of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union|CPSU Central Auditing Commission]], though due to its limited jurisdiction, its practical significance was minor compared to the ZPKK.

====Politburo of the Central Committee====
The most important day-to-day work of the Central Committee was undertaken by the [[Politburo]], a small circle of senior party officers, comprising between 15 and 25 full members, along with approximately 10 candidate (non-voting) members. The politburo members included approximately ten Central Committee Secretaries. The General Secretary of the Central Committee also held the Chairmanship of the Politburo (along with all his other functions). The country's government, formally headed by the [[Council of Ministers of the German Democratic Republic|Council of Ministers]], served largely to implement the Politburo's decisions. This meant that while the Council of Ministers was nominally the highest executive authority in the GDR, in reality it was under the permanent control of the Party Committees, a structure that ensured the "leading role" of the SED. This status was spelled out expressly after the [[Constitution of East Germany#1968 constitution|constitutional changes]] introduced in 1968, which defined East Germany as a "socialist state" led by "the working class and its Marxist–Leninist party." The [[Chairman of the Council of Ministers of the German Democratic Republic|Chairman of the Council of Ministers]] and the [[President of the Volkskammer|president]] of the [[People's Chamber|National legislature ''("Volkskammer")'']] were also members of the Politburo.

The meetings of the Politburo of the Central Committee of the SED usually took place every Tuesday in the conference room on the 2nd floor of the Central Committee building on Werderscher Markt, starting at 10 a.m. The meetings usually lasted only 2 hours and included up to 10 to 20 items on the agenda. According to former Politburo members [[Egon Krenz]] and [[Günter Schabowski]], most Politburo members had little to say, much less dissent.

====Secretariat of the Central Committee====
{{Main|List of members of the Secretariat of the Central Committee of the SED}}
The Central Committee Secretariat met each Wednesday to implement decisions finalised by the Politburo the previous day and to prepare the agenda for the Central Committee's next weekly meeting. The Secretariat comprised the Central Committee Party Secretaries. The Secretariat played a decisive role in selecting the [[Nomenklatura]] of the Central Committee. Nomenklatura members were the holders of the top 300 or so positions in the party and the state: changes to the Nomenklatura membership list required the approval of the Central Committee Secretariat.

{{Main|Departments of the SED Central Committee}}
The Secretariat was the connecting element between the Politburo and the Central Committee Departments. These departments, whose heads were always full members of the Central Committee, formulated policy for the party and thus the country, with most departments mirroring ministries of the GDR (for example, there was a Ministry of Light Industry and a Ministry of District-led and foodstuffs industry).<ref>{{Cite book |last=Uschner |first=Manfred |title=Die zweite Etage: Funktionsweise eines Machtapparates |date=1995 |publisher=Dietz |isbn=978-3-320-01792-7 |edition=2. Aufl |series=Zeitthemen |location=Berlin |pages=73 |language=de}}</ref> Department could de facto issue binding orders to the respective ministries, though de jure this was only possible for the secretaries. A notable exception was the Ministry of People's Education, which was not under supervision of the People's Education Department, but directly under the General Secretary, as Minister Margot Honecker was the General Secretary's wife. Secretaries were usually assigned to multiple departments, for example, throughout the GDR's existence, there was one Economy Secretary.

The party newspaper ''[[Neues Deutschland]]'' was organised as a department, its Editor-in-chief having department head rank. Similarly, the [[Parteihochschule Karl Marx|Party Academy]] and the Institute for Marxism–Leninism were organised as departments, their directors having department head rank.

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align: center;"
|+Central Committee Departments in early 1989
!Department
!Head
!Responsible Secretary
|-
|[[Departments of the Central Committee of the Socialist Unity Party of Germany#Agitation|Agitation]]{{efn|Agitation and Propaganda until 1963}}
|[[Heinz Geggel]]
| rowspan="4" |[[Joachim Herrmann (politician, born 1928)|Joachim Herrmann]]
|-
|[[Departments of the Central Committee of the Socialist Unity Party of Germany#Propaganda|Propaganda]]{{efn|Agitation and Propaganda until 1963}}
|Klaus Gäbler
|-
|[[Departments of the SED Central Committee#Friendly Parties|Friendly Parties]]
|Karl Vogel
|-
|''[[Neues Deutschland]]''
|Herbert Naumann{{efn|Editor-in-chief with department head rank}}
|-
|[[Departments of the Central Committee of the Socialist Unity Party of Germany#International Relations|International Relations]]
|[[Günter Sieber]]
| rowspan="3" |[[Hermann Axen]]
|-
|[[Departments of the Central Committee of the Socialist Unity Party of Germany#International Politics and Economics|International Politics and Economics]]{{efn|West Department until 1984}}
|[[Gunter Rettner]]
|-
|[[Departments of the Central Committee of the Socialist Unity Party of Germany#Foreign Information|Foreign Information]]
|[[Manfred Feist]]
|-
|[[Departments of the Central Committee of the Socialist Unity Party of Germany#Security Affairs|Security Affairs]]
|[[Wolfgang Herger]]
| rowspan="4" |[[Egon Krenz]]
|-
|[[Departments of the Central Committee of the Socialist Unity Party of Germany#State and Legal Affairs|State and Legal Affairs]]
|[[Klaus Sorgenicht]]
|-
|[[Departments of the Central Committee of the Socialist Unity Party of Germany#Youth|Youth]]
|Gerd Schulz
|-
|[[Departments of the Central Committee of the Socialist Unity Party of Germany#Sports|Sports]]
|[[Rudolf Hellmann]]
|-
|[[Departments of the SED Central Committee#Cadre Affairs|Cadre Affairs]]
|[[Fritz Müller (politician)|Fritz Müller]]
| rowspan="3" |[[Erich Honecker]]
|-
|[[Departments of the Central Committee of the Socialist Unity Party of Germany#Trafficking|Trafficking]]
|[[Julius Cebulla]]
|-
|[[Departments of the Central Committee of the Socialist Unity Party of Germany#Office of the Politburo|Office of the Politburo]]
|[[Edwin Schwertner]]
|-
|[[Departments of the Central Committee of the Socialist Unity Party of Germany#Party Organs|Party Organs]]
|Heinz Mirtschin
| rowspan="2" |[[Horst Dohlus]]
|-
|[[Departments of the Central Committee of the Socialist Unity Party of Germany#Neuer Weg|''Neuer Weg'' editorial staff]]
|Werner Scholz
|-
|[[Departments of the Central Committee of the Socialist Unity Party of Germany#Women|Women]]
| colspan="2" |[[Ingeburg Lange]]{{efn|Department head since 1961, responsible Central Committee Secretary since 1973}}
|-
|[[Departments of the Central Committee of the Socialist Unity Party of Germany#Science|Science]]
|[[Johannes Hörnig]]
| rowspan="9" |[[Kurt Hager]]
|-
|[[Departments of the Central Committee of the Socialist Unity Party of Germany#Public Education|Public Education]]
|Lothar Oppermann
|-
|[[Departments of the Central Committee of the Socialist Unity Party of Germany#Culture|Culture]]
|[[Ursula Ragwitz]]
|-
|[[Departments of the Central Committee of the Socialist Unity Party of Germany#Health Policy|Health Policy]]
|Karl Seidel
|-
|[[Parteihochschule Karl Marx|"Karl Marx" Party Academy]]
|[[Kurt Tiedke]]{{efn|School principal with department head rank}}
|-
|[[Institute for Marxism-Leninism for the Central Committee of the SED|Institute for Marxism–Leninism]]
|[[Günter Heyden]]{{efn|Institute director with department head rank}}
|-
|[[Departments of the Central Committee of the Socialist Unity Party of Germany#Einheit|''Einheit'' editorial staff]]
|Manfred Banaschak
|-
|Academy for Social Sciences
|Otto Reinhold
|-
|[[Departments of the Central Committee of the Socialist Unity Party of Germany#Dietz|Dietz Publishing House]]
|Günter Hennig
|-
|[[Departments of the Central Committee of the Socialist Unity Party of Germany#Agriculture|Agriculture]]
|[[Helmut Semmelmann]]
|[[Werner Krolikowski]]
|-
|[[Departments of the Central Committee of the Socialist Unity Party of Germany#Trade, Supply and Foreign Trade|Trade, Supply and Foreign Trade]]
|Hilmar Weiß
| rowspan="2" |[[Werner Jarowinsky]]
|-
|[[Departments of the Central Committee of the Socialist Unity Party of Germany#Church Affairs|Church Affairs]]
|Peter Kraußer
|-
|[[Departments of the Central Committee of the Socialist Unity Party of Germany#Planning and Finance|Planning and Finance]]
|Günter Ehrensperger
| rowspan="9" |[[Günter Mittag]]
|-
|[[Departments of the Central Committee of the Socialist Unity Party of Germany#Research and Technical Development|Research and Technical Development]]
|[[Hermann Pöschel]]
|-
|[[Departments of the Central Committee of the Socialist Unity Party of Germany#Trade Unions and Social Policy|Trade Unions and Social Policy]]
|Fritz Brock
|-
|[[Departments of the Central Committee of the Socialist Unity Party of Germany#Construction|Construction]]
|Gerhard Trölitzsch
|-
|[[Departments of the Central Committee of the Socialist Unity Party of Germany#Mechanical Engineering and Metallurgy|Mechanical Engineering and Metallurgy]]
|Klaus Blessing
|-
|[[Departments of the Central Committee of the Socialist Unity Party of Germany#Basic Industries|Basic Industries]]
|Horst Wambutt
|-
|[[Departments of the Central Committee of the Socialist Unity Party of Germany#Transport and Communications|Transport and Communications]]
|Dieter Wöstenfeld
|-
|[[Departments of the Central Committee of the Socialist Unity Party of Germany#Light, Food and Bezirk-led Industry|Light, Food and Bezirk-led Industry]]
|Manfred Voigt
|-
|[[Departments of the Central Committee of the Socialist Unity Party of Germany#Socialist Economic Management|Socialist Economic Management]]
|[[Carl-Heinz Janson]]
|-
|[[Departments of the Central Committee of the Socialist Unity Party of Germany#Financial Management and Party Businesses|Financial Management and Party Businesses]]
|Heinz Wildenhain
| rowspan="2" |[[Edwin Schwertner]]{{efn|as Head of the Politburo's Office}}
|-
|[[Departments of the Central Committee of the Socialist Unity Party of Germany#Management of Party Enterprises|Management of Party Enterprises]]
|[[Günter Glende]]
|}

==Party Congresses==
===The 1st Congress===
{{main|Merger of the KPD and SPD into the Socialist Unity Party of Germany}}
The 1st Party Congress ''(Vereinigungsparteitag)'', which convened on 21 April 1946, was the [[Merger of the KPD and SPD into the Socialist Unity Party of Germany|unification congress]]. This congress elected two co-chairmen to lead the party: [[Wilhelm Pieck]], former leader of the eastern KPD, and [[Otto Grotewohl]], former leader of the eastern SPD. The union was initially intended to apply to the whole of occupied Germany. The union was rejected consistently in the three western occupation zones, where both parties remained independent. The union of the two parties was thus effective only in the Soviet zone. The SED was modeled after the [[Communist Party of the Soviet Union]].

===The 2nd Congress===
The 2nd Party Congress convened from 20 to 24 July 1947. It adopted a fresh party statute and transformed the party executive committee into a central committee ''(Zentralkomitee'' or ''ZK'').

===The 3rd Congress===
<!--  Commented out because image was deleted: [[Image:SEDIIIparteitag.jpg|thumb|This SED poster informs the viewer about the 3rd SED Party Congress which will be held on July 1950. [[Karl Marx|Marx]], [[Friedrich Engels|Engels]], [[Vladimir Lenin|Lenin]], and [[Josef Stalin|Stalin]] are in the background.]] -->

The 3rd Party Congress convened in July 1950 and emphasized industrial progress. The industrial sector, employing 40% of the working population, was subjected to further nationalization, which resulted in the formation of "people's enterprises" (German: ''[[Volkseigener Betrieb]]'', VEB). These enterprises incorporated 75% of the industrial sector. At the same time, the party completed its transformation into a more orthodox Soviet-style party with the election of Walter Ulbricht as the party's general secretary.

===The 4th Congress===
{{Empty section|small=no|date=March 2025}}
===The 5th Congress===
{{Empty section|small=no|date=March 2025}}
===The 6th Congress===
The 6th Party Congress convened from 15 to 21 January 1963. The congress approved a new party program and a new party membership statute. Walter Ulbricht was re-elected as the party's First Secretary. A new economic policy was introduced, more strongly centralized – the "New Economic System".

===The 7th Congress===
First Secretary Walter Ulbricht announced the "ten requirements of the socialist moral and ethics". During his report at the 7th Party Congress in 1967, [[Erich Honecker]] had called for a return to an orthodox Socialist economic system, away from the recently instituted [[New Economic System]]. But the about-face in economic policy that year cannot be attributed to Honecker's advancement alone. During the previous two winters, the GDR had been plagued with power shortages and traffic breakdowns.

===The 8th Congress===
From 1971 onwards, congresses were held every five years. The last was the 11th Party Congress in April 1986. In theory, the party congresses set policy and elected the leadership, provided a forum for discussing the leadership's policies, and undertook activities that served to legitimize the party as a mass movement. They were formally empowered to pass both the party program and the statutes, to establish the general party line, to elect the members of the Central Committee and the members of the Central Auditing Commission, and to approve the Central Committee's report. Between congresses the Central Committee could convene a party conference to resolve policy and personnel issues.

In the spring of 1971, the 8th Congress rolled back some of the programs associated with the Ulbricht era and emphasized short-term social and economic problems. The SED used the occasion to announce its willingness to cooperate with [[West Germany]] and the Soviet Union in helping to solve a variety of international problems, particularly the future political status of Berlin. Another major development initiated at the congress was a strengthening of the [[Ministerrat|Council of Ministers]] at the expense of the [[Staatsrat|Council of State]]; this shift subsequently played an important role in administering the "Main Task" program. The SED further proclaimed that greater emphasis would be devoted to the development of a "socialist national culture" in which the role of artists and writers would be increasingly important. Honecker was more specific about the SED's position toward the intelligentsia at the Fourth Plenum of the Central Committee, where he stated: "As long as one proceeds from the firm position of socialism, there can in my opinion be no taboos in the field of art and literature. This applies to questions of content as well as of style, in short to those questions which constitute what one calls artistic mastery."

===The 9th Congress===
[[File:Flagge der SED.svg|thumb|left|The red flag of the SED bears the SED logo, which portrays the handshake between [[Communist Party of Germany|Communist]] [[Wilhelm Pieck]] and [[Social Democratic Party of Germany|Social Democrat]] [[Otto Grotewohl]] when their parties merged in 1946.]]

The 9th Party Congress in May 1976 can be viewed as a midpoint in the development of SED policy and programs. Most of the social and economic goals announced at the 7th Congress had been reached; however, the absence of a definitive statement on further efforts to improve the working and living conditions of the population proved to be a source of concern. The SED sought to redress these issues by announcing, along with the Council of Ministers and the leadership of the FDGB, a specific program to raise living standards. The 9th Congress initiated a hard line in the cultural sphere, which contrasted with the policy of openness and tolerance enunciated at the previous congress. Six months after the 9th Congress, for example, the GDR government withdrew permission for the singer [[Wolf Biermann]] to live in East Germany. The congress also highlighted the fact that East Germany had achieved international recognition in the intervening years. East Germany's growing involvement in both the East European economic system and the global economy reflected its new international status. This international status and the country's improved diplomatic and political standing were the major areas stressed by this congress. The 9th Party Congress also served as a forum for examining the future challenges facing the party in domestic and foreign policy. On the foreign policy front, the major events were various speeches delivered by representatives of West European Marxist–Leninist parties, particularly the Italian, Spanish, and French, all of which expressed in varying ways ideological differences with the Soviet Union. At the same time, although allowing different views to be heard, the SED rejected many of these criticisms in light of its effort to maintain the special relationship with the Soviet Union emphasized by Honecker. Another major point of emphasis at the congress was the issue of inter-German [[détente]]. On the East German side, the benefits were mixed. The GDR regime considered economic benefits as a major advantage, but the party viewed with misgivings the rapid increase in travel by West Germans to and through the GDR. Additional problems growing out of the expanding relationship with West Germany included conflict between [[Bonn]] and [[East Berlin]] on the rights and privileges of West German news correspondents in East Germany; the social unrest generated by the "two-currency" system, in which East German citizens who possessed West German [[Deutsche Mark|D-marks]] were given the privilege of purchasing scarce luxury goods at special currency stores ([[Intershop]]s); and the ongoing arguments over the issue of separate citizenship for the two German states, which the SED proclaimed but which the West German government refused to recognize as late as 1987.

During the 9th Congress, the SED also responded to some of the public excitement and unrest that had emerged in the aftermath of the signing of the [[Helsinki Accords]], the human rights documents issued at the meetings in 1975 of the [[Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe]]. Before the congress was convened, the SED had conducted a "People's Discussion" in order openly to air public concerns related to East Germany's responsibility in honoring the final document of the Helsinki conference.

===The 10th Congress===
The 10th Congress, which took place in April 1981, celebrated the status quo; the meeting unanimously re-elected Honecker to the office of general secretary, and there were no electoral surprises, as all incumbents except the ailing 76-year-old Albert Norden were returned to the ''[[Politbüro]]'' and the Secretariat. The congress highlighted the importance of policies that had been introduced or stressed at the two previous congresses and that had dominated East German life during the 1970s. As in the past, Honecker stressed the importance of the ties to the Soviet Union. In his closing remarks, he stated: "Our party, the SED, is linked forever with the party of [[Vladimir Lenin|Lenin]], [the CPSU]." A delegation led by chief party ideologue [[Mikhail Suslov]], a member of the CPSU ''Politburo'', represented the CPSU at the SED congress. Honecker reiterated earlier positions on the relationship between the two German states, stressing that they were two sovereign states that had developed along different lines since World War II, and that their differences had to be respected by both sides as they continued efforts toward peaceful coexistence despite membership in antagonistic alliances. In his speeches, Honecker, along with other SED officials, devoted greater attention to Third World countries than he had done in the past. Honecker mentioned the continually increasing numbers of young people from African, Asian, and Latin American countries who received their higher education in East Germany, and he referred to many thousands of people in those countries who had been trained as apprentices, skilled workers, and instructors by teams from East Germany.

The bulk of the Central Committee report delivered at the opening session of the congress by the general secretary discussed the economic and social progress made during the five years since the 9th Congress. Honecker detailed the increased agricultural and industrial production of the period and the resultant social progress as, in his words, the country continued "on the path to socialism and communism." Honecker called for even greater productivity in the next five years, and he sought to spur individual initiative and productivity by recommending a labor policy that would reward the most meritorious and productive members of society.

===The 11th Congress===
[[File:Bundesarchiv Bild 183-1986-0417-414, Berlin, XI. SED-Parteitag, Eröffnung.jpg|thumb|200px|The 11th Congress in [[Palast der Republik]], [[East Berlin]]]]
The 11th Congress, held 17–21 April 1986, unequivocally endorsed the SED and Honecker, whom it confirmed for another term as party head. The SED celebrated its achievements as the "most successful party on German soil", praised East Germany as a "politically stable and economically efficient socialist state", and declared its intention to maintain its present policy course. East Germany's successes, presented as a personal triumph for Honecker, marked a crowning point in his political career. [[Mikhail Gorbachev]]'s presence at the congress endorsed Honecker's policy course, which was also strengthened by some reshuffling of the party leadership. Overall, the 11th Congress exhibited confidence in East Germany's role as the strongest economy and the most stable country in Eastern Europe. Gorbachev praised the East German experience as proof that central planning could be effective and workable in the 1980s.

Official statements on the subject of foreign policy were mixed, particularly with respect to East Germany's relations with West Germany and the rest of Western Europe. Honecker's defense of his policy of "constructive dialogue" appeared in tune with Gorbachev's own calls for disarmament and détente in Europe. However, the SED leadership made it unequivocally clear that its foreign policy, including relations with West Germany, would remain closely coordinated with Moscow's. Although Honecker's criticism of West Germany was low key, Gorbachev's was sharp, attacking Bonn's participation in the United States [[Strategic Defense Initiative]] and the alleged "revanchism" in West Germany. However, after a final round of talks with Gorbachev, Honecker signed a hard-line communiqué that openly attacked the policies of the West German government. Overall, Gorbachev's statements suggested that the foreign policy emphasis would be on a common foreign policy adhered to by all members of the [[Warsaw Pact]] under Soviet direction. Until the 11th Party Congress, East German leaders had maintained that small and medium states had a significant role to play in international affairs. As a result of Soviet pressure, such statements disappeared from East German commentary on foreign policy.

==Final days: collapse of the SED==
{{see also|Revolutions of 1989}}
[[File:Party Card 750px.jpg|thumb|250px|An SED Membership Card]]

On the day of the 40th anniversary of the founding of the GDR, 7 October 1989, the old [[Social Democratic Party in the GDR|Social Democratic Party]] was illegally refounded. The rest of October saw widespread protests across the country, including in East Berlin and [[Leipzig]]. At a special ''Politbüro'' meeting on 18 October, Honecker was voted out as general secretary and replaced by [[Egon Krenz]], the party's number-two leader. Krenz tried to portray himself as a reformer, but few believed him. He was almost as detested as Honecker himself, and most of the populace remembered that only four months earlier, he had gone to China to thank the regime there for the suppression in Tiananmen Square.<ref name=Revolution1989>{{cite book|last=Sebetsyen|first=Victor|title=Revolution 1989: The Fall of the Soviet Empire|publisher=[[Pantheon Books]]|location=New York City|year=2009|isbn=978-0-375-42532-5|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/revolution1989fa00sebe}}</ref> Krenz made some attempts to adjust state policy. However, he could not (or would not) satisfy the growing demands of the people for increased freedom.

One of the regime's efforts to stem the tide ended up being its death knell. On 9 November the SED ''Politbüro'' drafted new travel regulations allowing anyone who wanted to visit West Germany to do so by crossing East Germany's borders with official permission. However, no one told the party's unofficial spokesman, East Berlin party boss [[Günter Schabowski]], that the regulations were to take effect the next afternoon. When a reporter asked him when the regulations were to be in place, Schabowski assumed they were already in effect and replied, "As far as I know—effective immediately, without delay." This was widely interpreted as a decision to open the [[Berlin Wall]]. Thousands of East Berliners crowded at the Wall, demanding to be let through. Unprepared and unwilling to use force, the guards were quickly overwhelmed and let them through the gates to West Berlin.

The fall of the Wall destroyed the SED politically. On 1 December 1989, the GDR parliament ''([[Volkskammer]])'' rescinded the clause in the [[Constitution of East Germany|GDR Constitution]] which defined the country as a socialist state under the leadership of the SED, thus formally ending Communist rule in East Germany. On 3 December 1989, the entire Central Committee and ''Politbüro''—including Krenz—resigned.

== Rebirth as the PDS ==
{{Main|The Left (Germany)}}
Some younger members of the SED had been receptive to Gorbachev's reforms, but had more or less been silenced until the events of 1989. Soon after the SED abandoned power, [[Gregor Gysi]], a reformist, was elected to the new post of party chairman. In his first speech, Gysi admitted that the SED was responsible for the country's economic problems—thus repudiating everything the party had done since 1949. He also declared that the party needed to adopt a new form of socialism.<ref name=Thompson>{{cite book |title=The World Today Series: Nordic, Central and Southeastern Europe 2008|last=Thompson |first=Wayne C. |year=2008 |publisher=Stryker-Post Publications |location=Harpers Ferry, West Virginia |isbn=978-1-887985-95-6}}</ref> As December wore on, most of the party's hardliners—including Honecker, Krenz and others—were pushed out as the party made a desperate attempt to change its image. By the time of a special 16 December congress, the SED was no longer a Marxist–Leninist party. To distance itself from its repressive past, the party added "[[Party of Democratic Socialism (Germany)|Party of Democratic Socialism]]" (PDS) to its name. On 4 February 1990, what remained of the party was renamed solely as the PDS. On 18 March 1990, the PDS was roundly defeated in [[1990 East German general election|the first—and as it turned out, only—free election in the GDR]]; the [[Alliance for Germany]] coalition, led by the [[Christian Democratic Union (East Germany)|Christian Democratic Union]] (CDU), won on a platform of speedy reunification with the West.

The SED had sequestered money overseas in secret accounts, including some which turned up in Liechtenstein in 2008. This was returned to the German government, as the PDS had rejected claims to overseas SED assets in 1990.<ref>Spiegel: [http://www.spiegel.de/politik/deutschland/0,1518,536391,00.html ''Magazin meldet Spur in Liechtenstein''.]</ref> The vast majority of domestic SED assets were transferred to the GDR government before unification. Legal issues over back taxes possibly owed by the PDS on former SED assets were eventually settled in 1995, when an agreement between the PDS and the Independent Commission on Property of Political Parties and Mass Organizations of the GDR was confirmed by the Berlin Administrative Court.<ref>Franz Oswald 2002, The Party That Came Out of the Cold War, pp. 69–71.</ref>

The PDS survived the [[reunification of Germany]]. It was represented in the [[Bundestag]] without interruption until 2007, and eventually began growing again. It has remained influential in former eastern Germany, especially at the state and local levels. It has been important in addressing East-German issues and addressing social problems. In 2007 the PDS merged with the western-based [[Labour and Social Justice – The Electoral Alternative]] (WASG) to create the new party [[The Left (Germany)|The Left]] (''Die Linke''), which has resulted in a higher acceptance in western states, the party now also being represented in the parliaments of [[Schleswig-Holstein]], [[Lower Saxony]], [[Bremen]], [[North Rhine-Westphalia]], [[Saarland]], [[Hesse]] and [[Hamburg]].

==Attempts to influence West German politics==
The SED had two [[West Germany|West German]] affiliates, which it controlled via the Central Committee's [[Departments of the SED Central Committee#International Politics and Economics|Department for International Politics and Economics]] (mostly named "West Department" until May 1984): the [[Communist Party of Germany]] (KPD) and, after [[Communist Party of Germany#Post-war history|its 1957 ban]], the [[German Communist Party]] (DKP) as well as the [[Socialist Unity Party of West Berlin]] (SEW).<ref name=":1">{{Cite web |title=Westabteilung, Abteilung für Internationale Politik und Wirtschaft, Westkommission |url=http://www.argus.bstu.bundesarchiv.de/Bestaendeuebersicht/index.htm?kid=28B09B45-4794-4BDD-8A1D-7EAF44929040 |access-date=2025-01-05 |website=www.argus.bstu.bundesarchiv.de |publisher=[[German Federal Archives]] |language=de}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Niederstadt |first=Jenny |title="Erbitten Anweisung!" Die West-Berliner SEW und ihre Tageszeitung "Die Wahrheit" auf SED-Kurs |url=http://www.berlin.de/imperia/md/content/lstu/schriftenreihe/niederst.pdf |url-status=dead |journal=Schriftenreihe des Berliner Landesbeauftragten für die Unterlagen des Staatssicherheitsdienstes der ehemaligen DDR |volume=9 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121021023003/http://www.berlin.de/imperia/md/content/lstu/schriftenreihe/niederst.pdf |archive-date=2012-10-21}}</ref><ref name=":9">{{Cite book |last=Schröder |first=Jürgen |url=https://enquete-online.de/pdf?pdf=wp12b5_3_293-329 |title=Die Westarbeit der SED am Beispiel der DKP |publisher=[[Federal Foundation for the Reappraisal of the SED Dictatorship]] |language=de |access-date=2025-01-06}}</ref> The SED funded its West German affiliates to the tune of millions every year through the [[Departments of the SED Central Committee#Trafficking|Central Committee's Trafficking Department]], the SEW received about 15 million [[Deutsche Mark|DM]] yearly,<ref>{{Cite book |last=Teichert |first=Olav |title=Die Sozialistische Einheitspartei Westberlins: Untersuchung der Steuerung der SEW durch die SED |publisher=Kassel University Press |year=2011 |isbn=978-3-89958-994-8 |location=Kassel |pages=187 f |language=de}}</ref> the DKP 70 million DM.<ref>{{Cite news |date=1989-12-24 |title=Moralische Pflicht |url=https://www.spiegel.de/politik/moralische-pflicht-a-8e96a535-0002-0001-0000-000013498613?context=issue |access-date=2025-01-06 |work=Der Spiegel |language=de |issn=2195-1349}}</ref>

The SED initially had a branch in [[West Berlin]], but after the [[Berlin Wall#Start of the construction (1961)|construction of the Berlin Wall in 1961]], that branch became a separate party. The party changed its name to Socialist Initiative (''Sozialistische Initiative'') in April 1990, then dissolved in June 1991, part of its members subsequently joining the [[Party of Democratic Socialism (Germany)|Party of Democratic Socialism]].

==General Secretaries of the Central Committee of the SED==
{| class="wikitable"
|--
! #
! Picture
! Name 
! Took office
! Left office
|-- 
|colspan="6" align="center"|'''Joint Chairmen of the Socialist Unity Party'''<br />{{lang|de|Vorsitzende der Sozialistischen Einheitspartei Deutschlands}}
|-- style="background:#EEEEEE"
! rowspan="2" style="background:{{party color|Socialist Unity Party of Germany}}; color:white;" |
| [[File:Fotothek df roe-neg 0002793 004 Portrait Wilhelm Piecks im Publikum der Bachfeier.jpg|60px]] || [[Wilhelm Pieck]]<br /><small>(1876–1960)</small> || rowspan="2" | 22 April 1946 || rowspan="2" | 25 July 1950
|-- style="background:#EEEEEE"
| [[File:Bundesarchiv Bild 183-19204-3150, Otto Grotewohl.jpg|60px]] || [[Otto Grotewohl]]<br /><small>(1894–1964)</small>
|-- 
|colspan="6" align="center"|'''General Secretary of the Central Committee'''<br />(titled as '''First Secretary of the Central Committee''' 1953–1976)<br />{{lang|de|Generalsekretär/Erster Sekretär des Zentralkommitees}}
|-- style="background:#EEEEEE"
! style="background:{{party color|Socialist Unity Party of Germany}}; color:white;" | 1
| [[File:Fotothek df pk 0000079 077.jpg|60px]] || [[Walter Ulbricht]]<br /><small>(1893–1973)</small> || 25 July 1950 || 3 May 1971
|-- style="background:#EEEEEE"
! style="background:{{party color|Socialist Unity Party of Germany}}; color:white;" | 2
| [[File:Bundesarchiv Bild 183-R0518-182, Erich Honecker.jpg|60px]] || [[Erich Honecker]]<br /><small>(1912–1994)</small> || 3 May 1971 || 18 October 1989
|-- style="background:#EEEEEE"
! style="background:{{party color|Socialist Unity Party of Germany}}; color:white;" | 3
| [[File:Bundesarchiv Bild 183-1984-0622-026, Egon Krenz.jpg|60px]] || [[Egon Krenz]]<br /><small>(1937–)</small> || 18 October 1989 || 3 December 1989
|-- 
|colspan="6" align="center"|'''(Honorary) Chairman of the Central Committee'''<br />{{lang|de|Vorsitzender des Zentralkommitees}}
|-- style="background:#EEEEEE"
! style="background:{{party color|Socialist Unity Party of Germany}}; color:white;" |
| [[File:Fotothek df pk 0000079 077.jpg|60px]] || [[Walter Ulbricht]]<br /><small>(1893–1973)</small> || 3 May 1971 || 1 August 1973
|-- 
|}

== Electoral history ==
=== GDR Volkskammer elections ===
{| class=wikitable style=text-align:center
!Election
!Party leader
!Vote
!%
!Seats
!+/–
!Position
|-
|[[1949 East German Constitutional Assembly election|1949]]
|[[Wilhelm Pieck]]<br />[[Otto Grotewohl]]
| colspan="2" |{{small|as part of [[Democratic Bloc (East Germany)|Democratic Bloc]]}}
|{{Composition bar|450|1525|hex={{party color|Socialist Unity Party of Germany}}}}{{efn|name=fn1|The 1,400 elected members of the Third [[German People's Congress]] selected the members of the second [[German People's Council]].}}
|–
|{{increase}} 1st
|-
|[[1950 East German general election|1950]]
| rowspan="6" |[[Walter Ulbricht]]
| colspan="2" rowspan="9" |{{small|as part of [[National Front of the German Democratic Republic|National Front]]}}
|{{Composition bar|110|400|hex={{party color|Socialist Unity Party of Germany}}}}
|{{increase}} 20
|{{steady}} 1st
|-
|[[1954 East German general election|1954]]
|{{Composition bar|117|400|hex={{party color|Socialist Unity Party of Germany}}}}
|{{increase}} 7
|{{steady}} 1st
|-
|[[1958 East German general election|1958]]
|{{Composition bar|117|400|hex={{party color|Socialist Unity Party of Germany}}}}
|{{steady}}
|{{steady}} 1st
|-
|[[1963 East German general election|1963]]
|{{Composition bar|110|434|hex={{party color|Socialist Unity Party of Germany}}}}
|{{decrease}} 7
|{{steady}} 1st
|-
|[[1967 East German general election|1967]]
|{{Composition bar|110|434|hex={{party color|Socialist Unity Party of Germany}}}}
|{{steady}}
|{{steady}} 1st
|-
|[[1971 East German general election|1971]]
|{{Composition bar|110|434|hex={{party color|Socialist Unity Party of Germany}}}}
|{{steady}}
|{{steady}} 1st
|-
|[[1976 East German general election|1976]]
| rowspan="3" |[[Erich Honecker]]
|{{Composition bar|110|434|hex={{party color|Socialist Unity Party of Germany}}}}
|{{steady}}
|{{steady}} 1st
|-
|[[1981 East German general election|1981]]
|{{Composition bar|127|500|hex={{party color|Socialist Unity Party of Germany}}}}
|{{increase}} 17
|{{steady}} 1st
|-
|[[1986 East German general election|1986]]
|{{Composition bar|127|500|hex={{party color|Socialist Unity Party of Germany}}}}
|{{steady}}
|{{steady}} 1st
|}

There were [[National Front (East Germany)|effective constitutional structures in place]] to ensure that the ruling SED was able to control the Volkskammer because of the extent to which it controlled [[Bloc party (politics)|other parties]] and [[mass movement (politics)|mass organisations]] which also received predetermined fixed quotas of Volkskammer seats.
{{notelist}}

=== West Berlin state elections ===
{{see also|Socialist Unity Party of West Berlin}}

{|class="wikitable" style="font-size:97%; text-align:center;"
|-
! Election
! Votes
! %
! Seats
! +/–
! Status
|-
| align=center| [[1946 Berlin state election|1946]]
| 412,582
| 19.8 (#3)
| {{composition bar|26|130|hex={{party color|Socialist Unity Party of Germany}}}}
| style="background:lightgrey;"|
| {{yes2|SPD–CDU–SED–LDPD}}
|-
| align=center| [[1948 West Berlin state election|1948]]
| colspan="6" | ''Did not contest''
|-
| align=center| [[1950 West Berlin state election|1950]]
| colspan="6" | ''Did not contest''
|-
| align=center| [[1954 West Berlin state election|1954]]
| 41,375
| 2.7 (#5)
| {{composition bar|0|127|hex={{party color|Socialist Unity Party of Germany}}}}
| {{decrease}} 17.1
| align=center style="background:#ddd;"| {{nowrap|No seats}}
|-
| align=center| [[1958 West Berlin state election|1958]]
| 31,572
| 1.9 (#5)
| {{composition bar|0|133|hex={{party color|Socialist Unity Party of Germany}}}}
| {{decrease}} 0.8
| align=center style="background:#ddd;"| {{nowrap|No seats}}
|-
| align=center| [[1963 West Berlin state election|1963]]
| 20,929
| 1.4 (#4)
| {{composition bar|0|140|hex={{party color|Socialist Unity Party of Germany}}}}
| {{decrease}} 0.5
| align=center style="background:#ddd;"| {{nowrap|No seats}}
|-
| align=center| [[1967 West Berlin state election|1967]]
| 29,925
| 2.0 (#4)
| {{composition bar|0|137|hex={{party color|Socialist Unity Party of Germany}}}}
| {{increase}} 0.6
| align=center style="background:#ddd;"| {{nowrap|No seats}}
|-
| align=center| [[1971 West Berlin state election|1971]]
| 33,845
| 2.3 (#4)
| {{composition bar|0|138|hex={{party color|Socialist Unity Party of Germany}}}}
| {{increase}} 0.3
| align=center style="background:#ddd;"| {{nowrap|No seats}}
|-
| align=center| [[1975 West Berlin state election|1975]]
| 25,105
| 1.8 (#5)
| {{composition bar|0|147|hex={{party color|Socialist Unity Party of Germany}}}}
| {{decrease}} 0.5
| align=center style="background:#ddd;"| {{nowrap|No seats}}
|-
| align=center| [[1979 West Berlin state election|1979]]
| 13,744
| 1.1 (#5)
| {{composition bar|0|135|hex={{party color|Socialist Unity Party of Germany}}}}
| {{decrease}} 0.7
| align=center style="background:#ddd;"| {{nowrap|No seats}}
|-
| align=center| [[1981 West Berlin state election|1981]]
| 8,176
| 0.6 (#5)
| {{composition bar|0|132|hex={{party color|Socialist Unity Party of Germany}}}}
| {{decrease}} 0.5
| align=center style="background:#ddd;"| {{nowrap|No seats}}
|-
| align=center| [[1985 West Berlin state election|1985]]
| 7,731
| 0.6 (#6)
| {{composition bar|0|144|hex={{party color|Socialist Unity Party of Germany}}}}
| {{steady}}
| align=center style="background:#ddd;"| {{nowrap|No seats}}
|-
| align=center| [[1989 West Berlin state election|1989]]
| 6,875
| 0.6 (#7)
| {{composition bar|0|138|hex={{party color|Socialist Unity Party of Germany}}}}
| {{steady}}
| align=center style="background:#ddd;"| {{nowrap|No seats}}
|}

=== Allied occupation of Germany (1946) ===
{{see also|1946 Soviet occupation zone state elections}}

{|class="wikitable" style="font-size:97%; text-align:center;"
|-
! State
! Votes
! %
! Seats
! Status
|-
! [[Landtag of Brandenburg|Brandenburg]]
| 634,786
| 43.52	(#1)
| {{composition bar|44|100|hex={{party color|Socialist Unity Party of Germany}}}}
| {{yes2|SED–CDU–LDPD}}
|-
! [[Landtag of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern|Mecklenburg-Vorpommern]]
| 551,594
| 49.53 (#1)
| {{composition bar|45|90|hex={{party color|Social Democratic Party of Germany}}}}
| {{yes2|SED–CDU–LDPD}}
|-
! [[Landtag of Saxony|Saxony]]
| 1,616,068
| 49.11 (#1)
| {{composition bar|59|120|hex={{party color|Social Democratic Party of Germany}}}}
| {{yes2|SED–LDPD–CDU}}
|-
! [[Landtag of Saxony-Anhalt|Saxony-Anhalt]]
| 1,063,889
| 45.79 (#1)
| {{composition bar|51|109|hex={{party color|Social Democratic Party of Germany}}}}
| {{yes2|SED–LDPD–CDU}}
|-
! [[Landtag of Thuringia|Thuringia]]
| 818,967
| 49.28 (#1)
| {{composition bar|50|100|hex={{party color|Social Democratic Party of Germany}}}}
| {{yes2|SED–LDPD–CDU}}
|}

=== Results timeline ===

{| class="wikitable" style="font-size:80%; text-align:center"
|-
! rowspan=2| Year
! rowspan=2| {{flagicon|West Germany}}<br>[[West Germany|WD]]
! rowspan=2| {{flagicon|East Germany}}<br>[[East Germany|DD]]
! rowspan=2| {{flagicon|European Union}}<br>EU
! rowspan=2 class="unsortable"| 
! colspan=3| {{flagicon|Baden-Württemberg}}<br>[[Baden-Württemberg|BW]]
! rowspan=2| {{flagicon|Bavaria}}<br>[[Bavaria|BY]] !! rowspan=2| {{flagicon|Berlin}}<br>[[Berlin|BE]] !! rowspan=2| {{flagicon|Brandenburg}}<br>[[Brandenburg|BB]] !! rowspan=2| {{flagicon|Bremen}}<br>[[Bremen (state)|HB]] !! rowspan=2| {{flagicon|Hamburg}}<br>[[Hamburg|HH]] !! rowspan=2| {{flagicon|Hesse}}<br>[[Hesse|HE]] !! rowspan=2| {{flagicon|Lower Saxony}}<br>[[Lower Saxony|NI]] !! rowspan=2| {{flagicon|Mecklenburg-Vorpommern}}<br>[[Mecklenburg-Vorpommern|MV]] !! rowspan=2| {{flagicon|North Rhine-Westphalia}}<br>[[North Rhine-Westphalia|NW]] !! rowspan=2| {{flagicon|Rhineland-Palatinate}}<br>[[Rhineland-Palatinate|RP]] !! rowspan=2| {{flagicon|Saarland}}<br>[[Saarland|SL]] !! rowspan=2| {{flagicon|Saxony}}<br>[[Saxony|SN]] !! rowspan=2| {{flagicon|Saxony-Anhalt}}<br>[[Saxony-Anhalt|ST]] !! rowspan=2| {{flagicon|Schleswig-Holstein}}<br>[[Schleswig-Holstein|SH]] !! rowspan=2| {{flagicon|Thuringia}}<br>[[Thuringia|TH]]
|-
! class="unsortable"| {{flagicon|Baden}}<br>[[South Baden|SB]]
! class="unsortable"| [[File:Flag of Württemberg-Baden.svg|25px|border]]<br>[[Württemberg-Baden|WB]]
! class="unsortable"| {{flagicon|Württemberg-Hohenzollern}}<br>[[Württemberg-Hohenzollern|WH]]
|-
! 1946
| rowspan=3| ''N/A''
| rowspan=3| ''N/A''
| rowspan=33| ''N/A''
| rowspan="44" bgcolor="lightgrey" |
| 
| rowspan=4 | ''N/A''
| 
| rowspan=4 | ''N/A''
| rowspan=2 bgcolor=#FF788C vertical-align:top"| '''19.8'''<br>{{Colour box|{{party color|Social Democratic Party of Germany}}|border=silver}}{{Colour box|{{party color|Christian Democratic Union of Germany}}|border=silver}}{{Colour box|{{party color|Socialist Unity Party of Germany}}|border=silver}}{{Colour box|{{party color|Free Democratic Party (Germany)}}|border=silver}}
| bgcolor=#FF3C50 style="color:#FFFFFF; vertical-align:top"| 43.5
| 
| rowspan=3 | ''N/A''
| rowspan=4 | ''N/A''
|
| bgcolor=#FF3C50 style="color:#FFFFFF; vertical-align:top"| 49.5
|
| 
|
| bgcolor=#FF3C50 style="color:#FFFFFF; vertical-align:top"| 49.1
| bgcolor=#FF3C50 style="color:#FFFFFF; vertical-align:top"| 45.8
|
| bgcolor=#FF3C50 style="color:#FFFFFF; vertical-align:top"| 49.3
|-
! 1947
| rowspan=5 | ''N/A''
| rowspan=5 | ''N/A''
| rowspan=3 bgcolor=#FF3C50 style="border-top-style:hidden"| {{Colour box|{{party color|Socialist Unity Party of Germany}}|border=silver}}{{Colour box|{{party color|Christian Democratic Union of Germany}}|border=silver}}{{Colour box|{{party color|Free Democratic Party (Germany)}}|border=silver}}
| rowspan=4 | ''N/A''
| rowspan=4 | ''N/A''
| rowspan=3 bgcolor=#FF3C50 style="border-top-style:hidden"| {{Colour box|{{party color|Socialist Unity Party of Germany}}|border=silver}}{{Colour box|{{party color|Christian Democratic Union of Germany}}|border=silver}}{{Colour box|{{party color|Free Democratic Party (Germany)}}|border=silver}}
| rowspan=3 | ''N/A''
| rowspan=4 | ''N/A''
| rowspan=5 | ''N/A''
| rowspan=3 bgcolor=#FF3C50 style="border-top-style:hidden"| {{Colour box|{{party color|Socialist Unity Party of Germany}}|border=silver}}{{Colour box|{{party color|Free Democratic Party (Germany)}}|border=silver}}{{Colour box|{{party color|Christian Democratic Union of Germany}}|border=silver}}
| rowspan=3 bgcolor=#FF3C50 style="border-top-style:hidden"| {{Colour box|{{party color|Socialist Unity Party of Germany}}|border=silver}}{{Colour box|{{party color|Free Democratic Party (Germany)}}|border=silver}}{{Colour box|{{party color|Christian Democratic Union of Germany}}|border=silver}}
| rowspan=3 | ''N/A''
| rowspan=3 bgcolor=#FF3C50 style="border-top-style:hidden"| {{Colour box|{{party color|Socialist Unity Party of Germany}}|border=silver}}{{Colour box|{{party color|Free Democratic Party (Germany)}}|border=silver}}{{Colour box|{{party color|Christian Democratic Union of Germany}}|border=silver}}
|-
! 1948
| rowspan=2 | ''N/A''
|-
! 1949
| rowspan=4 | ''N/A''
| bgcolor=#FF3C50 style="color:#FFFFFF; vertical-align:top"| 66.1 (bloc)
| rowspan=4 | ''N/A''
|-
! 1950
| bgcolor=#FF3C50 style="color:#FFFFFF; vertical-align:top"| {{increase}} 99.6 (bloc)
| rowspan=2 | ''N/A''
| rowspan=4 | ''N/A''
| rowspan=4 | ''N/A''
| rowspan=2 bgcolor=#FF3C50 style="color:#FFFFFF; vertical-align:top"| {{increase}} 99.9 (bloc)<br>{{Colour box|{{party color|Socialist Unity Party of Germany}}|border=silver}}{{Colour box|{{party color|Christian Democratic Union of Germany}}|border=silver}}{{Colour box|{{party color|Free Democratic Party (Germany)}}|border=silver}}{{Colour box|{{party color|Democratic Farmers' Party of Germany}}|border=silver}}{{Colour box|{{party color|National Democratic Party of Germany (East Germany)}}|border=silver}}
| rowspan=4 | ''N/A''
| rowspan=2 bgcolor=#FF3C50 style="color:#FFFFFF; vertical-align:top"| {{increase}} 99.9 (bloc)<br>{{Colour box|{{party color|Socialist Unity Party of Germany}}|border=silver}}{{Colour box|{{party color|Christian Democratic Union of Germany}}|border=silver}}{{Colour box|{{party color|Free Democratic Party (Germany)}}|border=silver}}{{Colour box|{{party color|Democratic Farmers' Party of Germany}}|border=silver}}{{Colour box|{{party color|National Democratic Party of Germany (East Germany)}}|border=silver}}
| rowspan=4 | ''N/A''
| rowspan=2 bgcolor=#FF3C50 style="color:#FFFFFF; vertical-align:top"| {{increase}} 99.8 (bloc)<br>{{Colour box|{{party color|Socialist Unity Party of Germany}}|border=silver}}{{Colour box|{{party color|Christian Democratic Union of Germany}}|border=silver}}{{Colour box|{{party color|Free Democratic Party (Germany)}}|border=silver}}{{Colour box|{{party color|Democratic Farmers' Party of Germany}}|border=silver}}{{Colour box|{{party color|National Democratic Party of Germany (East Germany)}}|border=silver}}
| rowspan=2 bgcolor=#FF3C50 style="color:#FFFFFF; vertical-align:top"| {{increase}} 99.8 (bloc)<br>{{Colour box|{{party color|Socialist Unity Party of Germany}}|border=silver}}{{Colour box|{{party color|Free Democratic Party (Germany)}}|border=silver}}{{Colour box|{{party color|Christian Democratic Union of Germany}}|border=silver}}{{Colour box|{{party color|Democratic Farmers' Party of Germany}}|border=silver}}{{Colour box|{{party color|National Democratic Party of Germany (East Germany)}}|border=silver}}
| rowspan=4 | ''N/A''
| rowspan=2 bgcolor=#FF3C50 style="color:#FFFFFF; vertical-align:top"| {{increase}} 99.1 (bloc)<br>{{Colour box|{{party color|Socialist Unity Party of Germany}}|border=silver}}{{Colour box|{{party color|Christian Democratic Union of Germany}}|border=silver}}{{Colour box|{{party color|Free Democratic Party (Germany)}}|border=silver}}{{Colour box|{{party color|Democratic Farmers' Party of Germany}}|border=silver}}{{Colour box|{{party color|National Democratic Party of Germany (East Germany)}}|border=silver}}
|-
! 1951
| rowspan=3 bgcolor=#FF3C50 style="border-top-style:hidden"| {{Colour box|{{party color|Socialist Unity Party of Germany}}|border=silver}}{{Colour box|{{party color|Christian Democratic Union of Germany}}|border=silver}}{{Colour box|{{party color|Free Democratic Party (Germany)}}|border=silver}}{{Colour box|{{party color|Democratic Farmers' Party of Germany}}|border=silver}}{{Colour box|{{party color|National Democratic Party of Germany (East Germany)}}|border=silver}}
| rowspan=4 | ''N/A''
| rowspan=4 | ''N/A''
| rowspan=4 | ''N/A''
|-
! 1952
| colspan=3 rowspan=4 | ''N/A''
| rowspan=38 | ''N/A''
| rowspan=38 | ''N/A''
| rowspan=3 | ''N/A''
| rowspan=38 | ''N/A''
| rowspan=38 | ''N/A''
| rowspan=38 | ''N/A''
|-
! 1953
| rowspan=4 | ''N/A''
| rowspan=4 | ''N/A''
|-
! 1954
| bgcolor=#FF3C50 style="color:#FFFFFF; vertical-align:top"| {{decrease}} 99.5 (bloc)
| rowspan=4 | ''N/A''
| rowspan=4 style="vertical-align:top"| {{decrease}} 2.7
| rowspan=4 | ''N/A''
| rowspan=4 | ''N/A''
| rowspan=4 | ''N/A''
|-
! 1955
| rowspan=3 bgcolor=#FF3C50 style="border-top-style:hidden"| {{Colour box|{{party color|Socialist Unity Party of Germany}}|border=silver}}{{Colour box|{{party color|Christian Democratic Union of Germany}}|border=silver}}{{Colour box|{{party color|Free Democratic Party (Germany)}}|border=silver}}{{Colour box|{{party color|Democratic Farmers' Party of Germany}}|border=silver}}{{Colour box|{{party color|National Democratic Party of Germany (East Germany)}}|border=silver}}
| rowspan=4 | ''N/A''
| rowspan=4 | ''N/A''
| rowspan=4 | ''N/A''
| rowspan=5 | ''N/A''
|-
! 1956
| colspan=3 rowspan=4 | ''N/A''
|-
! 1957
| rowspan=4 | ''N/A''
| rowspan=4 | ''N/A''
|-
! 1958
| bgcolor=#FF3C50 style="color:#FFFFFF; vertical-align:top"| {{increase}} 99.9 (bloc)
| rowspan=4 | ''N/A''
| rowspan=5 style="vertical-align:top"| {{decrease}} 2.0
| rowspan=4 | ''N/A''
| rowspan=4 | ''N/A''
| rowspan=4 | ''N/A''
|-
! 1959
| rowspan=4 bgcolor=#FF3C50 style="border-top-style:hidden"| {{Colour box|{{party color|Socialist Unity Party of Germany}}|border=silver}}{{Colour box|{{party color|Christian Democratic Union of Germany}}|border=silver}}{{Colour box|{{party color|Free Democratic Party (Germany)}}|border=silver}}{{Colour box|{{party color|Democratic Farmers' Party of Germany}}|border=silver}}{{Colour box|{{party color|National Democratic Party of Germany (East Germany)}}|border=silver}}
| rowspan=4 | ''N/A''
| rowspan=4 | ''N/A''
| rowspan=4 | ''N/A''
|-
! 1960
| colspan=3 rowspan=4 | ''N/A''
| rowspan=5 | ''N/A''
|-
! 1961
| rowspan=4 | ''N/A''
| rowspan=5 | ''N/A''
|-
! 1962
| rowspan=4 | ''N/A''
| rowspan=4 | ''N/A''
| rowspan=4 | ''N/A''
| rowspan=5 | ''N/A''
|-
! 1963
| bgcolor=#FF3C50 style="color:#FFFFFF; vertical-align:top"| {{decrease}} 99.3 (bloc)
| rowspan=4 style="vertical-align:top"| {{decrease}} 1.4
| rowspan=4 | ''N/A''
| rowspan=4 | ''N/A''
| rowspan=4 | ''N/A''
|-
! 1964
| rowspan=3 bgcolor=#FF3C50 style="border-top-style:hidden"| {{Colour box|{{party color|Socialist Unity Party of Germany}}|border=silver}}{{Colour box|{{party color|Christian Democratic Union of Germany}}|border=silver}}{{Colour box|{{party color|Free Democratic Party (Germany)}}|border=silver}}{{Colour box|{{party color|Democratic Farmers' Party of Germany}}|border=silver}}{{Colour box|{{party color|National Democratic Party of Germany (East Germany)}}|border=silver}}
| colspan=3 rowspan=4 | ''N/A''
|-
! 1965
| rowspan=4 | ''N/A''
| rowspan=5 | ''N/A''
|-
! 1966
| rowspan=4 | ''N/A''
| rowspan=4 | ''N/A''
| rowspan=4 | ''N/A''
| rowspan=4 | ''N/A''
|-
! 1967
| bgcolor=#FF3C50 style="color:#FFFFFF; vertical-align:top"| {{increase}} 99.9 (bloc)
| rowspan=4 style="vertical-align:top"| {{increase}} 2.0
| rowspan=4 | ''N/A''
| rowspan=3 | ''N/A''
| rowspan=4 | ''N/A''
| rowspan=4 | ''N/A''
|-
! 1968
| rowspan=3 bgcolor=#FF3C50 style="border-top-style:hidden"| {{Colour box|{{party color|Socialist Unity Party of Germany}}|border=silver}}{{Colour box|{{party color|Christian Democratic Union of Germany}}|border=silver}}{{Colour box|{{party color|Free Democratic Party (Germany)}}|border=silver}}{{Colour box|{{party color|Democratic Farmers' Party of Germany}}|border=silver}}{{Colour box|{{party color|National Democratic Party of Germany (East Germany)}}|border=silver}}
| colspan=3 rowspan=4 | ''N/A''
|-
! 1969
| rowspan=3 | ''N/A''
|-
! 1970
| rowspan=4 | ''N/A''
| rowspan=4 | ''N/A''
| rowspan=4 | ''N/A''
| rowspan=4 | ''N/A''
| rowspan=5 | ''N/A''
| rowspan=5 | ''N/A''
|-
! 1971
| bgcolor=#FF3C50 style="color:#FFFFFF; vertical-align:top"| {{decrease}} 99.5 (bloc)
| rowspan=4 style="vertical-align:top"| {{increase}} 2.3
| rowspan=4 | ''N/A''
| rowspan=4 | ''N/A''
| rowspan=4 | ''N/A''
|-
! 1972
| rowspan=4 | ''N/A''
| rowspan=4 bgcolor=#FF3C50 style="border-top-style:hidden"| {{Colour box|{{party color|Socialist Unity Party of Germany}}|border=silver}}{{Colour box|{{party color|Christian Democratic Union of Germany}}|border=silver}}{{Colour box|{{party color|Free Democratic Party (Germany)}}|border=silver}}{{Colour box|{{party color|Democratic Farmers' Party of Germany}}|border=silver}}{{Colour box|{{party color|National Democratic Party of Germany (East Germany)}}|border=silver}}
| colspan=3 rowspan=4 | ''N/A''
|-
! 1973
|-
! 1974
| rowspan=4 | ''N/A''
| rowspan=4 | ''N/A''
| rowspan=4 | ''N/A''
| rowspan=4 | ''N/A''
|-
! 1975
| rowspan=4 style="vertical-align:top"| {{decrease}} 1.8
| rowspan=4 | ''N/A''
| rowspan=5 | ''N/A''
| rowspan=4 | ''N/A''
| rowspan=5 | ''N/A''
| rowspan=4 | ''N/A''
|-
! 1976
| rowspan=4 | ''N/A''
| bgcolor=#FF3C50 style="color:#FFFFFF; vertical-align:top"| {{increase}} 99.6 (bloc)
| colspan=3 rowspan=4 | ''N/A''
|-
! 1977
| rowspan=4 bgcolor=#FF3C50 style="border-top-style:hidden"| {{Colour box|{{party color|Socialist Unity Party of Germany}}|border=silver}}{{Colour box|{{party color|Christian Democratic Union of Germany}}|border=silver}}{{Colour box|{{party color|Free Democratic Party (Germany)}}|border=silver}}{{Colour box|{{party color|Democratic Farmers' Party of Germany}}|border=silver}}{{Colour box|{{party color|National Democratic Party of Germany (East Germany)}}|border=silver}}
|-
! 1978
| rowspan=4 | ''N/A''
| rowspan=4 | ''N/A''
| rowspan=4 | ''N/A''
| rowspan=4 | ''N/A''
|-
! 1979
| rowspan=5 | ''N/A''
| rowspan=2 style="vertical-align:top"| {{decrease}} 1.1
| rowspan=4 | ''N/A''
| rowspan=4 | ''N/A''
| rowspan=4 | ''N/A''
|-
! 1980
| rowspan=3 | ''N/A''
| colspan=3 rowspan=4 | ''N/A''
| rowspan=5 | ''N/A''
| rowspan=5 | ''N/A''
|-
! 1981
| bgcolor=#FF3C50 style="color:#FFFFFF; vertical-align:top"| {{increase}} 99.9 (bloc)
| rowspan=4 style="vertical-align:top"| {{decrease}} 0.6
|-
! 1982
| rowspan=4 bgcolor=#FF3C50 style="border-top-style:hidden"| {{Colour box|{{party color|Socialist Unity Party of Germany}}|border=silver}}{{Colour box|{{party color|Christian Democratic Union of Germany}}|border=silver}}{{Colour box|{{party color|Free Democratic Party (Germany)}}|border=silver}}{{Colour box|{{party color|Democratic Farmers' Party of Germany}}|border=silver}}{{Colour box|{{party color|National Democratic Party of Germany (East Germany)}}|border=silver}}
| rowspan=4 | ''N/A''
| ''N/A''
| ''N/A''
| rowspan=4 | ''N/A''
|-
! 1983
| rowspan=4 | ''N/A''
| rowspan=4 | ''N/A''
| rowspan=3 | ''N/A''
| rowspan=4 | ''N/A''
| rowspan=4 | ''N/A''
| rowspan=4 | ''N/A''
|-
! 1984
| rowspan=5 | ''N/A''
| colspan=3 rowspan=4 | ''N/A''
|-
! 1985
| rowspan=4 style="vertical-align:top"| {{steady}} 0.6
| rowspan=5 | ''N/A''
| rowspan=5 | ''N/A''
|-
! 1986
| bgcolor=#FF3C50 style="color:#FFFFFF; vertical-align:top"| {{steady}} 99.9 (bloc)
| rowspan=4 | ''N/A''
| ''N/A''
| rowspan=4 | ''N/A''
|-
! 1987
| rowspan=3 | ''N/A''
| rowspan=3 bgcolor=#FF3C50 style="border-top-style:hidden"| {{Colour box|{{party color|Socialist Unity Party of Germany}}|border=silver}}{{Colour box|{{party color|Christian Democratic Union of Germany}}|border=silver}}{{Colour box|{{party color|Free Democratic Party (Germany)}}|border=silver}}{{Colour box|{{party color|Democratic Farmers' Party of Germany}}|border=silver}}{{Colour box|{{party color|National Democratic Party of Germany (East Germany)}}|border=silver}}
| rowspan=3 | ''N/A''
| rowspan=3 | ''N/A''
| rowspan=3 | ''N/A''
| rowspan=3 | ''N/A''
| ''N/A''
|-
! 1988
| colspan=3 rowspan=2 | ''N/A''
| rowspan=2 | ''N/A''
|-
! 1989
| ''N/A''
| style="vertical-align:top"| {{steady}} 0.6
|-
! 1990
! colspan=22 | For continuation after 1989, see [[Party of Democratic Socialism (Germany)#Results Timeline|the PDS's timeline]]
|-
! Year
! {{flagicon|West Germany}}<br>[[West Germany|WD]]
! {{flagicon|East Germany}}<br>[[East Germany|DD]]
! {{flagicon|European Union}}<br>EU
! class="unsortable"| 
! colspan=3| {{flagicon|Baden-Württemberg}}<br>[[Baden-Württemberg|BW]] !! {{flagicon|Bavaria}}<br>[[Bavaria|BY]] !! {{flagicon|Berlin}}<br>[[Berlin|BE]] !! {{flagicon|Brandenburg}}<br>[[Brandenburg|BB]]
! {{flagicon|Bremen}}<br>[[Bremen (state)|HB]] !! {{flagicon|Hamburg}}<br>[[Hamburg|HH]] !! {{flagicon|Hesse}}<br>[[Hesse|HE]] !! {{flagicon|Lower Saxony}}<br>[[Lower Saxony|NI]] !! {{flagicon|Mecklenburg-Vorpommern}}<br>[[Mecklenburg-Vorpommern|MV]] !! {{flagicon|North Rhine-Westphalia}}<br>[[North Rhine-Westphalia|NW]] !! {{flagicon|Rhineland-Palatinate}}<br>[[Rhineland-Palatinate|RP]] !! {{flagicon|Saarland}}<br>[[Saarland|SL]] !! {{flagicon|Saxony}}<br>[[Saxony|SN]] !! {{flagicon|Saxony-Anhalt}}<br>[[Saxony-Anhalt|ST]] !! {{flagicon|Schleswig-Holstein}}<br>[[Schleswig-Holstein|SH]] !! {{flagicon|Thuringia}}<br>[[Thuringia|TH]]
|-
| colspan=23 align=left| '''Bold''' indicates best result to date.<br>{{Colour box|#FFBEBE|border=silver}} Present in legislature (in opposition)<br>{{Colour box|#FF788C|border=silver}} Junior coalition partner<br>{{Colour box|#FF3C50|border=silver}} Senior coalition partner
|}

== See also ==
{{portal|East Germany}}
* [[The Left (Germany)|The Left]]
* [[Volkskammer]]
* [[Politics of Germany]]
* [[List of political parties in Germany]]
* [[List of foreign delegations at the 9th SED Congress]]
* [[Free German Youth]]
* [[Eastern Bloc politics]]

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

== External links ==
* {{Commons category-inline|Sozialistische Einheitspartei Deutschlands|Socialist Unity Party of Germany}}

{{Clear}}
{{GDR political parties}}
{{Eastern Bloc parties}}
{{Leaders of the Ruling Parties of the Eastern Bloc}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Socialist Unity Party Of Germany}}
[[Category:Socialist Unity Party of Germany| ]]
[[Category:Defunct communist parties in Germany]]
[[Category:Political parties in East Germany]]
[[Category:Parties of one-party systems]]
[[Category:Political parties established in 1946]]
[[Category:Political parties disestablished in 1990]]
[[Category:Formerly ruling communist parties]]
[[Category:Eastern Bloc]]
[[Category:1946 establishments in Germany]]
[[Category:1990 disestablishments in East Germany]]
[[Category:Peaceful Revolution]]