Hans Modrow, who served as East Germany's last communist leader during a turbulent tenure that ended in the country's first and only free election, has died. He was 95.
Hans Modrow, who served as East Germany's last communist leader during a turbulent tenure that ended in the country's first and only free election, has died. He was 95.Modrow, a reform-minded communist, took over East Germany shortly after the Berlin Wall fell and later invited opposition forces into the government, but could not slow the gathering momentum for German reunification.
During 16 years as communist party chief in Dresden, starting in 1973, Modrow built a reputation as an anti-establishment figure. He rejected party perks and insisted on living in a normal apartment. When hard-line leader Egon Krenz and his ruling Politburo resigned in early December, Modrow emerged as East Germany's top political figure. But the communists could no longer call the shots on their own. The following month, he agreed to share power with the increasingly vocal opposition and moved up East Germany's landmark first free election to March 1990, amid growing unrest.
Modrow headed the election campaign of the restyled communists, the Party of Democratic Socialism, but his personal popularity was not enough to prevent them finishing as only the third-strongest party, with 16 percent support.
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