The East German government of the Socialist Unity Party of Germany (SED)
The political goal of the East German government was the erection of a
socialist “worker and farmer state” after the model of
the Soviet Union. As in other communist countries within the Eastern bloc,
this effort was crowned with notable social achievements: basic social
security for all, minimal unemployment, equal working opportunities for
men and women. On the other hand, it meant massive restriction of civil rights:
state supervision, limitations of the freedom of opinion, restrictions of the
right to travel. This led to increasing dissatisfaction within the populace.
The relationship of the government to the Church was ambivalent. Officially,
the SED propagated atheism, treated religion as superfluous, and sought to
restrict the social influence of the Church wherever possible. At the same time,
it sought to win the Church over to support its policy.
The population and the political opposition
The political “Wende” in East Germany was brought about in the last
analysis by the massive demonstrations of dissatisfied citizens (“We are the people”).
This protest was prepared for, however, by decades of work on the part of opposition
leaders from the ranks of the arts, politics, science, and journalism and their
continuing resistance to the SED regime.
The Protestant Church
The Protestant Church played a special role in East Germany. It enjoyed more rights
and liberties than any other institution and over the decades it steered a course
along the narrow line between collaboration with the regime and keeping distance to
preserve its independence. It sought to be “a church within socialism”,
attempting “to be for every one, but not for every thing” (Bishop Leich),
in order not to lose its privileged status.
