Peter Moreth (28 July 19414 February 2014) was a German politician of the East German
satellite party
Satellite Party was an alternative rock band formed by Jane's Addiction vocalist Perry Farrell following the break-up of Jane's Addiction in 2004. Other members included Carl Restivo (bass) and Farrell's wife, Etty Lau Farrell (backing singer a ...
LDPD. He was a member of the
Volkskammer
The Volkskammer (, "People's Chamber") was the supreme power organ of East Germany. It was the only branch of government in the state, and per the principle of unified power, all state organs were subservient to it.
The Volkskammer was initia ...
from 1986 to March 1990 and member of the
State Council of East Germany from 1986 to November 1989. During the
Peaceful Revolution
The Peaceful Revolution () – also, in German called ' (, "the turning point") – was one of the peaceful revolutions of 1989 at the peak of the collapse of the Eastern Bloc in the late 1980s. A process of sociopolitical change that led to, am ...
he was a Deputy Chairman of the
East German
East Germany, officially known as the German Democratic Republic (GDR), was a country in Central Europe from its formation on 7 October 1949 until its reunification with West Germany (FRG) on 3 October 1990. Until 1989, it was generally vie ...
Council of Ministers
Council of Ministers is a traditional name given to the supreme Executive (government), executive organ in some governments. It is usually equivalent to the term Cabinet (government), cabinet. The term Council of State is a similar name that also m ...
from November 1989 to March 1990, overseeing local government.
During the
transition towards
German reunification
German reunification () was the process of re-establishing Germany as a single sovereign state, which began on 9 November 1989 and culminated on 3 October 1990 with the dissolution of the East Germany, German Democratic Republic and the int ...
he was briefly the first president of the
Treuhand
The (, " Trust agency"), colloquially referred to as , was an agency established by the government of the German Democratic Republic to reprivatise/ privatise East German enterprises, Volkseigene Betriebe (VEBs), prior to German reunification. ...
, the organisation entrusted with the privatisation of East Germany's nationally-owned enterprises.
Life
Moreth was born in Chemnitz on 28 July 1941, during the
Second World War
World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
. His father was shopkeeper. After leaving school he served an apprenticeship as a bricklayer between 1955 and 1957, followed by another apprenticeship in retailing from 1957 till 1959. He then worked in the retail sector from 1959 to 1968. He completed a
correspondence course of business administration at the
University of Leipzig
Leipzig University (), in Leipzig in Saxony, Germany, is one of the world's oldest universities and the second-oldest university (by consecutive years of existence) in Germany. The university was founded on 2 December 1409 by Frederick I, Electo ...
from 1968 to 1973 and received his doctorate in economy from the same university in 1977.
[
In 1962 Moreth joined the East German ]Liberal Democratic Party
Several political parties from around the world have been called the Liberal Democratic Party, Democratic Liberal Party or Liberal Democrats. These parties have usually followed liberalism as ideology, although they can vary widely from very progr ...
(LDPD), one of the country's so-called bloc parties controlled through the National Front organisation and subordinate to the ruling Socialist Unity Party
The Socialist Unity Party of Germany (, ; SED, ) was the founding and ruling party of the German Democratic Republic (East Germany) from the country's foundation in 1949 until its dissolution after the Peaceful Revolution in 1989. It was a Ma ...
(SED). In 1964 he became chairman of the National Front's local branch in the central Saxon town of Mittweida. In 1968 he became a full-time employee of the regional party organisation of the LDPD in the district of Karl-Marx-Stadt (as Chemnitz was called at that time). In 1970 he became a deputy chairman of the city council of Karl-Marx-Stadt
Chemnitz (; from 1953 to 1990: Karl-Marx-Stadt (); ; ) is the third-largest city in the Germany, German States of Germany, state of Saxony after Leipzig and Dresden, and the fourth-largest city in the area of former East Germany after (East Be ...
with responsibility for trade and supply. Then from 1971 till 1983 he was the LDPD district chairman and a member of the district council of Cottbus
Cottbus () or (;) is a university city and the second-largest city in the German state of Brandenburg after the state capital, Potsdam. With around 100,000 inhabitants, Cottbus is the most populous city in Lusatia. Cottbus lies in the Sorbian ...
. He became a candidate for the central committee of the LDPD in 1967, a full member of the central committee in 1972 and a member of the party's political bureau
A politburo () or political bureau is the highest organ of the central committee in communist parties. The term is also sometimes used to refer to similar organs in socialist and Islamist parties, such as the UK Labour Party's NEC or the Poli ...
in 1977.[ From 1983 till 20 November 1989 he served as chairman of the LDPD's regional association in the district of Magdeburg. In 1986 he was selected to the ]Volkskammer
The Volkskammer (, "People's Chamber") was the supreme power organ of East Germany. It was the only branch of government in the state, and per the principle of unified power, all state organs were subservient to it.
The Volkskammer was initia ...
, the parliament of East Germany. Between 16 June 1986 and 17 November 1989 he served as a member of the East German State Council, the collective head of state
A head of state is the public persona of a sovereign state.#Foakes, Foakes, pp. 110–11 "he head of state
He or HE may refer to:
Language
* He (letter), the fifth letter of the Semitic abjads
* He (pronoun), a pronoun in Modern English
* He (kana), one of the Japanese kana (へ in hiragana and ヘ in katakana)
* Ge (Cyrillic), a Cyrillic letter cal ...
being an embodiment of the State itself or representative of its international persona." The name given to the office of head of sta ...
.
Under the short-lived premiership of Hans Modrow
Hans Modrow (; 27 January 1928 – 10 February 2023) was a German politician best known as the last communist premier of East Germany.
Coming into office amidst the Peaceful Revolution, he was the ''de facto'' leader of East Germany through ...
during the Peaceful Revolution, Moreth was appointed deputy chairman of the Council of ministers and minister of local administration on 19 November 1989, serving until the first and only free East German parliament election on 18 March 1990. Shortly before the election, on 1 March 1990, prime minister Hans Modrow
Hans Modrow (; 27 January 1928 – 10 February 2023) was a German politician best known as the last communist premier of East Germany.
Coming into office amidst the Peaceful Revolution, he was the ''de facto'' leader of East Germany through ...
appointed him as the first president of the ''Treuhand
The (, " Trust agency"), colloquially referred to as , was an agency established by the government of the German Democratic Republic to reprivatise/ privatise East German enterprises, Volkseigene Betriebe (VEBs), prior to German reunification. ...
'' agency that was tasked with privatisation of the ''Volkseigene Betriebe
The Publicly Owned Enterprise (; abbreviated VEB) was the main legal form of industrial enterprise in East Germany. These state-owned enterprise were all Public-ownership, publicly owned and were formed after nationalisation#Germany, mass national ...
'' (publicly owned enterprises).[ After proposing voucher privatisation by handing out shares to the citizens of East Germany, he fell out of favour with the new democratic government of ]Lothar de Maizière
Lothar de Maizière (; born 2 March 1940) is a German former politician of the Christian Democratic Union. In 1990, he served as the head of the first and only democratically elected government of East Germany, holding this office during the fi ...
that planned to sell the enterprises to investors. The prime minister believed Moreth's thinking was "firmly within a socialist economic system" and dismissed him on 15 June 1990.
After this Peter Moreth lived as a business consultant in Berlin where, in February 2014, he died.
Award
* 1981 Patriotic Order of Merit
The Patriotic Order of Merit (German: ''Vaterländischer Verdienstorden'', or VVO) was a national award granted annually in the German Democratic Republic (GDR). It was founded in 1954 and was awarded to individuals and institutions for outstanding ...
Silver
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Moreth, Peter
1941 births
2014 deaths
Politicians from Chemnitz
People from Mittweida
Liberal Democratic Party of Germany politicians
Government ministers of East Germany
Members of the State Council of East Germany
Members of the 9th Volkskammer
Recipients of the Patriotic Order of Merit in silver