Death of Hans Modrow, last leader of East Germany

BERLIN (AP) — Hans Modrow, the last leader of East Germany’s communist regime during a turbulent period that ended with the country’s first and only democratic election, has died at 95.

Modrow died early Saturday morning, the leftist party’s parliamentary bloc tweeted.

A reformist communist, Modrow came to power shortly after the fall of the Berlin Wall and later invited opposition forces into government, but was unable to stem the growing drive for German reunification.

“The whole peaceful process of establishing German unity was precisely his achievement,” Izquierda tweeted. “It will go down as his political legacy.”

For 16 years as head of the Communist Party in Dresden, beginning in 1973, Modrow earned a reputation as an anti-establishment figure. He refused party privileges and insisted on living in a normal apartment.

He barely reached the pinnacle of power in November 1989, days after the fall of the Berlin Wall, when he was appointed Prime Minister, a position that then carried little weight.

When hardliner Egon Krenz and his Politburo resigned in early December, Modrow became East Germany’s leading political figure, but the Communists could no longer rule alone. The following month he agreed to share power with the opposition and postponed East Germany’s historic first free election until March 1990 amid growing unrest.

Although the mobilizations for the democracy go quickly towards the reunification, the communists are opposed to it. However, Modrow demanded in February 1990 that talks be held with West Germany to finally arrive at a “united fatherland”, independent of military blocs and governed by a common parliament in Berlin.

Modrow led the electoral campaign of the reformed communists, the Party of Democratic Socialism (PDS), but his personal popularity did not prevent them from coming in third place, with 16% of the vote.

He won an alliance of right-wing parties in favor of immediate reunification backed by West German Chancellor Helmut Kohl. Germany reunited as a member of NATO on October 3, 1990, less than a year after the fall of the Berlin Wall.

Modrow was a member of the United Parliament until 1994 and honorary chairman of the post-communist PDS. From 1999 to 2004 he was a member of the European Parliament.

Several years after reunification, he must answer to justice for his past as a member of the communist regime. A court found him guilty in 1995 of inciting to falsify the results of the 1989 local elections in Dresden. He sentenced him to a suspended nine-month prison sentence and a fine.

Modrow said the trial was politically motivated and its outcome would deepen divisions between East and West Germans. His lawyer argued that he had righted previous injustices by guaranteeing free elections for the post of prime minister.