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16-505: The history of the party dates back to 16 June 1945, when a Berlin-based group led by Waldemar Koch and his father-in-law Eugen Schiffer took the initiative in refounding the Weimar-era German Democratic Party . Koch was elected chair of the founding committee, with Wilhelm Külz as his deputy; the writer Franz Xaver Kappus joined the board as well. At first there were some conversations about forming

32-676: A bloc party ( Blockpartei ) of the National Front it jettisoned its original ideology, acting as a "helpmeet" to the Communist Socialist Unity Party of Germany (SED). Another bloc party, the National Democratic Party of Germany (NDPD), appealed to almost the same social groups. In October 1951, the LDP was ordered to add the "D" for "Germany" (Deutschland) into its name in order to serve

48-688: A loyal partner of the SED, but began moving toward a more independent line in the 1980s. At an extraordinary party congress held 9–10 February 1990 in Dresden it returned to genuine liberal policies and dropped "of Germany" from its name. On 12 February 1990 it joined the Association of Free Democrats , which finally merged into the Free Democratic Party (FDP) on 11 August 1990. The LDPD had contacts with other (nominally) liberal parties in

64-562: A united centre-right democratic party with the Christian Democrats, but the idea was abandoned soon and the name was changed to Liberal Democratic Party ("Liberal-Demokratische Partei", LDP) before the party's official founding on 5 July 1946. It was first of all aimed at uniting Weimar Republic -era members of the German Democratic Party , German People's Party and German National People's Party . Unlike

80-605: The Liberal Democratic Party and the National Democratic Party of Germany , previously excluded from the coalition, merged into the party Association of Free Democrats . Finally, on 11 August 1990 the Association of Free Democrats party, the Free Democratic Party (GDR) and the German Forum Party merged with the Free Democratic Party . This article related to a European Liberal party is

96-829: The Liberal Democratic Party of Germany (LDPD) in the Soviet Occupied Zone (SBZ). In 1945 he was briefly the Chairman of the LDPD, but the Soviets forced him to resign after a few months. He opposed the land reform plans of the Soviet authorities and the Socialist Unity Party (SED). Koch was a member of the LDPD's executive committee until 1948. In 1949 he went to West Germany ( West Berlin ) and again worked as an economics professor. From 1948 to 1956 Koch

112-512: The 18 March 1990 the Association of Free Democrats, heavily supported by the West German Free Democratic Party , polled 5.28% of the votes and gained 21 seats, all parties running on the same lists. Most of the seats went to Liberal Democratic Party members, whose leader Rainer Ortleb became their parliamentary leader. It then participated in the last GDR government led by Lothar de Maizière . On 27 March 1990,

128-657: The 1980s. Waldemar Koch Waldemar Koch (25 September 1880 – 15 May 1963) was a German liberal politician and economist. He was born in Bad Harzburg , Duchy of Brunswick . Koch studied Economics , Philosophy and History at Berlin . He received a doctorate in 1907 for a dissertation titled "Consolidation in the German Electrical Industry" ( "Konzentration in der dt. Elektroindustrie" ). Between 1907 and 1910 he undertook an extensive study tour that included Russia, China and

144-770: The Communist bloc: Polish Democratic Party (Stronnictwo Demokratyczne, SD), the Czechoslovak Socialist Party (Československá strana socialistická, CSS), the Democratic Party of Vietnam and the Korean Democratic Party (Chõson Sahoeminjudang, CS). The Liberal Democratic Party of GDR also had some contacts with the West German FDP ; in the 1960s and 1970s, there was limited communication, but relations improved in

160-696: The Democratic Party of Germany began with a conference in Rothenburg ob der Tauber on 17 March 1947. Wilhelm Külz and Theodor Heuss (representing Western liberals) acted as co-chairmen. Such undertakings failed quickly, owing to Külz's participation in the SED -sponsored German People's Congress for Unity and Just Peace . The failure of unification became imminent when at a session of the united leadership of DPD that took part on 18 January 1948 and which Külz refused to attend, Theodor Heuss argued that

176-661: The East German Christian Democratic Union (CDU), the Liberal Democratic Party was firmly for private ownership and opposed to nationalization of important private enterprises. Among the new anti-fascist parties, Liberal Democratic Party was the most anti-communist at the time. After internal fighting and under pressure from Soviet authorities, Koch was replaced with the more pliable Wilhelm Külz in November 1945. In

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192-542: The Liberal Democrats' unwillingness to take any measures against Külz proved their commitment to 'the Russian conception of German unity'. Arthur Lieutenant, the spokesman of LDP on the matter, declared that under those circumstances and concerning reproaches laid against East German liberals, any co-operation had been made impossible. After 1949, it shared the same fate as the other legal East German parties. As

208-535: The SED's all-German propaganda of that time. LDPD member Johannes Dieckmann was the chairman of the Volkskammer from 1949 to 1969, and as such was ex officio vice president of the GDR during that time. The central newspaper of LDPD used to be the daily Der Morgen ("The Morning"). Manfred Gerlach was the Chairman of the Liberal Democratic Party from 1967 to his resignation in 1990. Gerlach had initially been

224-532: The United States. He also worked for AEG from 1905 to 1907, returning to the company to head a London-based company for them from 1910 to 1914. During World War I he served in the German army. In 1918 he joined the German Democratic Party (Deutsche Demokratische Partei) . Between the wars he worked as an economist and professor at Technische Universität Berlin . After World War II he co-founded

240-599: The last free election, in 1946 , the Liberal Democrats finished third, behind the SED and the CDU. At the end of 1948, during the culmination of their opposition to the SED seizure of power, the LDP had more than 200,000 members, 23% of whom were younger than 25. In July 1946, the LDP and the liberal parties in the Western Zones founded a joint Coordination committee with the aim of forming an All-Germany liberal party ( Demokratische Partei Deutschlands , DPD). The founding of

256-535: Was a member of the liberal FDP (Free Democratic Party). Association of Free Democrats The Association of Free Democrats ( German : Bund Freier Demokraten ) was a liberal coalition, later party, formed in East Germany on 12 February 1990. It originally consisted of the Liberal Democratic Party , the Free Democratic Party (GDR) and the German Forum Party . In the Volkskammer election of

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