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23-472: The Volkskammer ( German: [ˈfɔlkskamɐ] , " 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 initially the lower house of a bicameral legislature . The upper house was the Chamber of States , or Länderkammer , but in 1952

46-567: A Schloßplatz include Frankfurt am Main , Stuttgart , Munich and Dresden . It was the site of the Berliner Stadtschloss (Berlin City Palace). From 1949 to 1990 it was part of East Berlin , the capital of East Germany . In 1950, the remains of the city palace were blown up, and in 1951 the square was renamed Marx-Engels-Platz (Marx-Engels Square) after Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels . New buildings erected included

69-489: A T-34 tank . Following German reunification in 1990, the name Schloßplatz was restored in 1994. The Palast der Republik was originally scheduled to be demolished in 2005-06, but this was delayed, and a series of conceptual and performance art events were held in the Palast during the period of reprieve. Demolition of Palast der Republik was completed in 2008. A temporary exhibition venue Temporäre Kunsthalle Berlin

92-487: A seat because of this would become successor candidates who would fill casual vacancies which might occur during a legislative period. Only one list of candidates appeared on a ballot paper; voters simply took the ballot paper and dropped it into the ballot box. Those who wanted to vote against the National Front list had to vote using a separate ballot box, without any secrecy. The table below shows an overview of

115-642: Is the Schlossbrücke (Palace Bridge), from which Unter den Linden leads west to the Brandenburg Gate . From the same corner, Karl-Liebknecht-Straße runs northeast alongside the square and on to Alexanderplatz . Until the early 20th century, only the square south of the palace was so named, the square north of it being the Lustgarten . "Schloßplatz" is also a common name for squares in many German-speaking countries. Other cities which have

138-654: The Constitution , possibly in reference to the influence of parliamentary sovereignty from the Constitution of the United Kingdom . Schlo%C3%9Fplatz (Berlin) Schloßplatz ( German: [ˈʃlɔsˌplat͡s] , Palace Square or Castle Square ) is a square located on Museum Island ( Museumsinsel ) in Berlin , Germany . It measures about 225 m by 175 m, with its long side oriented on an axis approximately southwest/northeast. At its west corner

161-658: The Constitution of East Germany , proclaimed itself the Volkskammer and requested official recognition as a national legislature from the Soviet Military Administration in Germany . This was granted by Soviet Deputy Foreign Minister Andrei Gromyko . The Volkskammer then convened with the Länderkammer to elect Wilhelm Pieck as the first President of East Germany and Otto Grotewohl as

184-876: The Council of Ministers (the GDR's government), and the National Defence Council (the GDR's collective military leadership). In practice, however, it was a rubber stamp parliament that did little more than ratify decisions already made by the SED Politburo. By the 1970s and before the Peaceful Revolution , the Volkskammer only met two to four times a year. In October 1949 the Volksrat ("People's Council"), charged with drafting

207-535: The National People's Congress as the highest organ of state power are boundless, its authority extends to the entire territory of the country, and, if necessary, it can intervene in any matter which it finds it requisite to do so." More specifically, according to Chinese legal scholars Xu Chongde and Niu Wenzhan, "[t]he other central State organs are created by the NPC and execute the laws and resolutions made by

230-586: The Palast der Republik , the Council of State building, and the Foreign Ministry building. The Council of State building contains a balcony from the former city palace, where Karl Liebknecht proclaimed a socialist republic on November 9, 1918. The Soviet Army 's repression of the East German uprising of 1953 began on the square, when Soviet soldiers fired at East Germans trying to climb onto

253-646: The State Council having been abolished. The presidency of the People's Chamber was held by a bloc party representative for most of that body's existence to keep up the appearance that the GDR was led by a broad coalition. Only one SED member ever held the post. Highest organ of state power The powers of the highest organ of state power are constrained only by the limits it has itself set by adopting constitutional and legal documents. In China, according to Chinese legal scholar Zhou Fang, "[t]he powers of

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276-467: The states of East Germany were dissolved, and the Chamber of States was abolished in 1958. Constitutionally , the Volkskammer was the highest organ of state power in the GDR, and both constitutions vested it with great lawmaking powers. All other branches of government, including the judiciary, were responsible to it. By 1960, the chamber appointed the State Council (the GDR's collective head of state),

299-541: The NPC." These bodies are not permanent and generally convene at least once a year. In between sessions, most or all of its duties and responsibilities are transferred to its working body, usually named either presidium, state council or standing committee. For instance, Article 19 of the 1977 Soviet Constitution states that the Presidium of the All-Union Supreme Soviet exercised "the functions of

322-465: The SED held control over the composition of the Volkskammer. In any event, the minor parties in the National Front were largely subservient to the SED, and were required to accept the SED's " leading role " as a condition of their continued existence. The members of the People's Chamber were elected in multi-member constituencies , with four to eight seats. To be elected, a candidate needed to receive half of

345-467: The Volkskammer, in which they were represented by indirectly elected non-voting members, but in 1979 the electoral law was changed to provide for 66 directly elected deputies with full voting rights. After the 1990 election , the disposition of the parties was as follows: The president of the People's Chamber was the third-highest state post in the GDR (after the chairman of the Council of Ministers and

368-479: The chairman of the State Council) and was the ex officio vice president during the existence of the office of president . As such, on two occasions, the president of the People's Chamber served as acting president for brief periods in 1949 and 1960. The last president of the People's Chamber, Sabine Bergmann-Pohl , was also interim head of state during the last six months of East Germany's existence due to

391-480: The constitutional documents and laws of these states rarely call them as such. Instead, they tend to be described as having national legislative power . For example, the Constitution of Vietnam has described the nation's highest organ of state power as: The National Assembly is the highest representative organ of the people; the highest organ of state power of the Socialist Republic of Viet Nam ,

414-594: The first Prime Minister of East Germany . From its founding in 1949 until the first competitive elections in March 1990 , all members of the Volkskammer were elected via a single list from the National Front , a popular front / electoral alliance dominated by the SED. In addition, seats were also allocated to various organizations affiliated with the SED, such as the Free German Youth . Effectively,

437-565: The highest body of state authority of the USSR between sessions of the Supreme Soviet". These bodies have the power to issue decrees or regulations in lieu of law. In most cases, if such measures are not ratified by the highest organ at its next session, they are considered revoked. However, in some countries, even this formality was not observed. Highest organs of state power have been commonly called legislatures by outside observers, but

460-703: The reported results of all parliamentary elections before 1990, with the resulting disposition of parliamentary seats. In 1976, the Volkskammer moved into a specially constructed building on Marx-Engels-Platz (now Schloßplatz again), the Palace of the Republic ( Palast der Republik ). Prior to this, the Volkskammer met at Langenbeck-Virchow-Haus  [ de ] in the Mitte district of Berlin. Initially, voters in East Berlin could not take part in elections to

483-522: The sole organ that has the constitutional and legislative rights . Politics of Vietnam , Viet Nam Government Portal The following is a list of highest organs of state power in contemporary and historical communist states: This term "highest organ of state power" also exists in certain non-communist states, but has a different meaning. For example, Japan 's National Diet is referred to as "the highest organ of state power..." in Article 41 of

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506-425: The valid votes cast in their constituency. If, within a constituency, an insufficient number of candidates got the majority needed to fill all the seats, a second round was held within 90 days. If the number of candidates getting this majority exceeds the number of seats in the respective constituency, the order of the candidates on the election list decided who got to sit in the Volkskammer. Candidates who lost out on

529-648: Was then constructed on the western side of the Schloßplatz and held a number of contemporary art exhibitions over the following two years. Between 2012 and 2020 the Stadtschloss palace was rebuilt with three replica façades on north, west and south, a replica courtyard, and a modern interior and eastern facade. It houses a conference centre and several museum collections of the Humboldt Forum , which opened online on 16 December 2020. The music video for

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