The Communist Party of Germany (german: link=no, Kommunistische Partei Deutschlands, abbreviated KPD) is an anti-revisionist Marxist-Leninist

communist party A communist party is a political party that seeks to realize the socio-economic goals of communism. The term ''communist party'' was popularized by the title of ''The Manifesto of the Communist Party'' (1848) by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels. ...

in Germany. It is one of several parties which claim the KPD name and/or legacy. It was founded in

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and List of cities in Germany by population, largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's List of cities in the European Union by population within ci ...

in 1990.

History

The KPD, also known as ''KPD-Ost'' or ''KPD (Rote Fahne),'' was founded in 1990 in the GDR, after the

Fall of the Berlin Wall The fall of the Berlin Wall (german: Mauerfall) on 9 November 1989, during the Peaceful Revolution, was a pivotal event in world history which marked the destruction of the Berlin Wall and the figurative Iron Curtain and one of the series of eve ...

but before the eventual German reunification by members of the

Socialist Unity Party of Germany The Socialist Unity Party of Germany (german: Sozialistische Einheitspartei Deutschlands, ; SED, ), often known in English as the East German Communist Party, was the founding and ruling party of the German Democratic Republic (GDR; East German ...

(SED) who opposed the reforms from the party's new leadership and wanted to stay loyal to Marxism-Leninism. It competed unsuccessfully in the 1990 Volkskammer election, the only multi-party election held in the GDR. The KPD was exempt from the West German ban on the KPD from 1956, due to a provision in the German reunification treaty which guarantees the continued legality of parties founded in the former GDR. However, this KPD-ban was already circumvented in 1968 with the foundation of a new West German communist party, the

German Communist Party The German Communist Party (german: Deutsche Kommunistische Partei, ) is a communist party in Germany. The DKP supports left positions and was an observer member of the European Left. At the end of February 2016 it left the European party. His ...

(DKP). The KPD and the DKP remain to exist as separate parties and occasionally cooperate politically. Following

Erich Honecker Erich Ernst Paul Honecker (; 25 August 1912 – 29 May 1994) was a German communist politician who led the German Democratic Republic (East Germany) from 1971 until shortly before the fall of the Berlin Wall in November 1989. He held the posts ...

's expulsion from SED, KPD offered him and his wife

Margot Margot (; ) is a feminine French given name, a variant of Marguerite. It is also occasionally a surname. Persons named Margot include the following: People with the given name Margot * Margot Asquith, countess of Oxford and Asquith * Marguerite ...

their party membership, which they gladly accepted. Today the KPD remains a small party with its main strongholds being in the Neue Länder. It has competed in

Bundestag The Bundestag (, "Federal Diet") is the German federal parliament. It is the only federal representative body that is directly elected by the German people. It is comparable to the United States House of Representatives or the House of Common ...

Landtag A Landtag (State Diet) is generally the legislative assembly or parliament of a federated state or other subnational self-governing entity in German-speaking nations. It is usually a unicameral assembly exercising legislative competence in non ...

and local elections, but so far has only managed to gain one mandate in the city of

Zeitz Zeitz ( hsb, Žič) is a town in the Burgenlandkreis district, in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. It is situated on the river White Elster, in the triangle of the federal states Saxony-Anhalt, Thuringia and Saxony. History Zeitz was first recorded u ...

between 2004 and 2014. The party stood candidates in the 2019 state election in

Thuringia Thuringia (; german: Thüringen ), officially the Free State of Thuringia ( ), is a state of central Germany, covering , the sixth smallest of the sixteen German states. It has a population of about 2.1 million. Erfurt is the capital and lar ...

and

Saxony Saxony (german: Sachsen ; Upper Saxon: ''Saggsn''; hsb, Sakska), officially the Free State of Saxony (german: Freistaat Sachsen, links=no ; Upper Saxon: ''Freischdaad Saggsn''; hsb, Swobodny stat Sakska, links=no), is a landlocked state of ...

. In 2002 the KPD founded its youth wing, the Young Communist League of Germany. In 2020 KPD member Siegfried Kutschick, elected to the

city council under the ''Wir für unsere Stadt'' banner, was expelled from the party for joining the Alternative for Germany (AfD) council caucus. After a week of protests from the KPD and other leftwing organizations, Kutschick reconsidered and left the AfD caucus. Nevertheless Kutschick was expelled from the KPD.

Ideology

The party upholds a strict anti-revisionist Marxist-Leninist line, and states that it "consistently fights revisionism,

opportunism Opportunism is the practice of taking advantage of circumstances – with little regard for principles or with what the consequences are for others. Opportunist actions are expedient actions guided primarily by self-interested motives. The term ...

and its main form,

anti-Stalinism The anti-Stalinist left is an umbrella term for various kinds of left-wing political movements that opposed Joseph Stalin, Stalinism and the actual system of governance Stalin implemented as leader of the Soviet Union between 1927 and 1953. T ...

." It recognizes the

German Democratic Republic German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) ** Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **G ...

(DDR), the

Union of Soviet Socialist Republics The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...

(USSR), especially during the leadership of

Stalin Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin (born Ioseb Besarionis dze Jughashvili; – 5 March 1953) was a Georgian revolutionary and Soviet political leader who led the Soviet Union from 1924 until his death in 1953. He held power as General Secretar ...

, and other former Soviet allied states as examples of real existing socialism. It also holds a positive view on the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, its leadership, both Kim Jong-il and his successor Kim Jong-un, and the leading ideologies of the nation, being

Juche ''Juche'' ( ; ), officially the ''Juche'' idea (), is the state ideology of North Korea and the official ideology of the Workers' Party of Korea. North Korean sources attribute its conceptualization to Kim Il-sung, the country's founder and f ...

and

Songun ''Songun'' is the " military-first" policy of North Korea, prioritizing the Korean People's Army in the affairs of state and allocation of resources. "Military-first" as a principle guides political and economic life in North Korea, with "mili ...

. On the subject of the first leader of the state,

Kim Il-sung Kim Il-sung (; , ; born Kim Song-ju, ; 15 April 1912 – 8 July 1994) was a North Korean politician and the founder of North Korea, which he ruled from the country's establishment in 1948 until his death in 1994. He held the posts of ...

it claims that he was "a great politician, that acquired himself big merits in the modern political history and left behind definite traces".

Famous members

Despite being a small party, it managed to attract a number of prominent members, mostly those from the former leadership of the Socialist Unity Party (SED). Both

and his wife

became members of the KPD after being expelled from the reformed SED in 1990, Margot Honecker even becoming an honorary member. Irma Thälmann, the daughter of

Ernst Thälmann Ernst Johannes Fritz Thälmann (; 16 April 1886 – 18 August 1944) was a German communist politician, and leader of the Communist Party of Germany (KPD) from 1925 to 1933. A committed Marxist-Leninist and Stalinist, Thälmann played a major r ...

, became a member of the KPD after leaving the Party of Democratic Socialism, due to the re-evaluation of her father's legacy by the party. She was a candidate for the KPD at the 1994 Bundestag election for the district of

Berlin-Lichtenberg Lichtenberg () is a quarter (''Ortsteil'') of Berlin in the homonymous borough (''Bezirk'') of Lichtenberg. Until 2001 it was an autonomous district with the localities of Fennpfuhl, Rummelsburg, Friedrichsfelde and Karlshorst. History The hi ...

, gaining 266 votes (0.17%).

Electoral history

References

External links