Volkskammer - Chairmen of the People's Chamber

The parliament of the former German Democratic Republic (GDR) and nominally the highest authority, with 500 delegates. Single-list elections assured that the Sozialistiche Einheitspartei (SED) and its mass organizations had an overall majority every five years. Basically it was the task of the Volkskammer to sanction the political course taken by party and government. Decisions were mostly taken unanimously, with one exception in 1972 when 14 Christlich-Demokratische Union (CDU) delegates voted against the liberal abortion law in the GDR. The first and only free elections to the Volkskammer took place on 18 March 1990 after the revolution (Umbruch) of 1989.

A typical slate was as follows:

Party/Group	Acronym	Members
Socialist Unity Party of Germany	SED	127
Free German Trade Union Federation	FDGB	68
Christian Democratic Union	CDU	52
Liberal Democratic Party of Germany	LPDP	52
Democratic Farmers' Party of Germany	DBD	52
National Democratic Party of Germany	NDPD	52
Free German Youth	FDJ	50
Democratic Women's League of Germany	DFD	35
Cultural Association of the DDR	KB	22

In 1976, the Volkskammer moved into a specially-constructed building on Marx-Engels-Platz (now Schloßplatz again), the Palast der Republik (Palace of the Republic).

After the 1990 elections, the disposition of the parties was as follows

Party/Group	Acronym	Members
Alliance for Germany	CDU, DA, DSU	192
Social Democratic Party of Germany	SPD	88
Party of Democratic Socialism	PDS, former SED	66
Association of Free Democrats	DFP, FDP, LDP	21
Alliance 90	B90	12
East German Green Party and Independent Women's Association	Grüne, UFV	8
National Democratic Party of Germany	NDPD	2
Democratic Women's League of Germany	DFD	1
United Left	VL	1

Chairmen of the People's Chamber

Johannes Dieckmann	LDPD	1949-1969
Gerald Goetting	CDU	1969-1976
Horst Sindermann	SED	1976-1989
Günther Maleuda	DBD	1989-1990
Sabine Bergmann-Pohl	CDU	1990