Democratic Beginning (german: Demokratischer Aufbruch) was an

East German East Germany, officially the German Democratic Republic (GDR; german: Deutsche Demokratische Republik, , DDR, ), was a country that existed from its creation on 7 October 1949 until its dissolution on 3 October 1990. In these years the state ...

political movement and political party that was active during the

Revolutions of 1989 The Revolutions of 1989, also known as the Fall of Communism, was a revolutionary wave that resulted in the end of most communist states in the world. Sometimes this revolutionary wave is also called the Fall of Nations or the Autumn of Nat ...

and in the period leading up to the German reunification. While it was a relatively minor party, it took part in the first democratically elected government in East Germany in 1990, and is especially known because future Chancellor of Germany,

Angela Merkel Angela Dorothea Merkel (; ; born 17 July 1954) is a German former politician and scientist who served as Chancellor of Germany from 2005 to 2021. A member of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU), she previously served as Leader of the Opp ...

started her political career within the party. It was founded on 29 October 1989, based on existing politically active church groups. Founding members included

Wolfgang Schnur Wolfgang Schnur (8 June 1944 – 16 January 2016) was an East German civil rights lawyer and a longtime informer of the dreaded East German secret service Stasi. He was closely involved with the Association of Evangelical Churches (''"Bund der ...

, Friedrich Schorlemmer,

Rainer Eppelmann Rainer Eppelmann () (born 12 February 1943 in Berlin), is a German politician. Known for his opposition in the German Democratic Republic, he became Minister for Disarmament and Defense in the last cabinet. He is now a member of the CDU. The ...

Günter Nooke Günter Nooke (born January 21, 1959) is a German CDU politician and a former civil rights activist. Background Nooke was born in Forst (Lausitz), Germany, a small town in Brandenburg. He grew up there only 150 km (90 mi) southeast ...

and Thomas Welz. The organisation became a political party on December 16/17, 1989 in

Leipzig Leipzig ( , ; Upper Saxon: ) is the most populous city in the German state of Saxony. Leipzig's population of 605,407 inhabitants (1.1 million in the larger urban zone) as of 2021 places the city as Germany's eighth most populous, as ...

. The party convention adopted a more conservative program than some of the founding members, like Schorlemmer, were willing to bear, so they left the party. Others, like Nooke, who left some time later, resented the growing cooperation with the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) of East Germany, which had been a member of the Communist-dominated National Front of parties and mass organisations that had supported the Communist regime. Democratic Beginning now supported rapid German reunification and joined the

Alliance for Germany The Alliance for Germany (german: Allianz für Deutschland) was an opposition coalition in East Germany. It was formed on 5 February 1990 in Berlin (then West Berlin) to stand in the East-German Volkskammer elections. It consisted of the Christ ...

(''Allianz für Deutschland'') along with the CDU and German Social Union (DSU) for the 1990 Volkskammer elections on March 18. Only a few days prior to the elections, party chairman Schnur had to confess to having been an informer for the Ministry for State Security (Stasi), and resigned. Although Alliance for Germany won the elections, Democratic Beginning only collected 0.9% of votes, amounting to four seats in the Volkskammer. Eppelmann became minister for disarmament and defense in the new government and new party chairman. On 4 August 1990, Democratic Beginning ceased to exist after merging into the East German CDU, which in turn on 3 October 1990 merged into its

West German West Germany is the colloquial term used to indicate the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG; german: Bundesrepublik Deutschland , BRD) between its formation on 23 May 1949 and the German reunification through the accession of East Germany on 3 O ...

counterpart, the Christian Democratic Union (CDU). From February 1990,

served as the party's spokeswoman. After the mergers, Merkel was elected in the post-unification election as a member of the all-German

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 ...

for the CDU, was immediately appointed a minister in

Helmut Kohl Helmut Josef Michael Kohl (; 3 April 1930 – 16 June 2017) was a German politician who served as Chancellor of Germany from 1982 to 1998 and Leader of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) from 1973 to 1998. Kohl's 16-year tenure is the longes ...

's government as a form of East German representation, became party chairwoman in 2000 and eventually Chancellor of Germany in 2005.

References

{{Authority control Peaceful Revolution Organizations of the Revolutions of 1989 Political parties in East Germany Dissent Political parties established in 1989 Political parties disestablished in 1990 Defunct political parties in Germany 1989 establishments in East Germany 1990 disestablishments in East Germany