In the German Democratic Republic (GDR), the State Council (German: Staatsrat) was the collective head of state from 1960 to 1990.
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When the German Democratic Republic was founded in 1949, its constitution in its formal structure resembled a "bourgeois", federalist democratic systems in order to portray the GDR as the legitimate continuation of the German nation state (in opposition to the supposedly separatist Federal Republic. One of the "bourgeois" features of the constitution (in Article 66) was the office of President, which was filled by Wilhelm Pieck, formerly the leader of the Communist party and now one of the two chairmen of the Socialist Unity Party.
However, East German government was controlled solely by the Socialist Unity Party (SED) and the country gradually transformed into a Socialist state based on the model of the Soviet Union. When President Pieck died on 7 September 1960, the head of state was reshaped along those lines. The constitution was amended on 12 September 1960 by the Law concerning the formation of the State Council, which created a collective body in place of the presidency. The same constitutional amendment also acknowledged the role of the recently formed National Defense Council (Nationaler Verteidigungsrat) in GDR defense policy. The State Council remained virtually unchanged in the constitutional changes of 1968 and 1974.
The State Council was elected by the People's Chamber, the East German parliament. Its term was originally four years, but was later changed to five years.
The body consisted of a chairman, several deputy chairmen (usually six), further members (usually sixteen) and a secretary. Members were taken from the political parties and mass organizations affiliated to the SED-controlled National Front. Occasionally an otherwise prominent citizen was also included. The position of chairmen was commonly occupied by the leader of the SED - short exceptions were the period of transformation from the leadership of Ulbricht to Honnecker 1971-1976 and the final phase of the body 1989/1990 -, whereas the leaders of the smaller parties served as deputy chairmen.
Functions of the State council included
Originally, the State Council also could issue statutory decrees and legallly-binding interpretations of constitution and laws. The diplomatic role of a head of state solely rested with chairman. Both the body's legislative powers and the chairman's special diplomatic status were formally abolished in constitutional changes of 1974.
Though the Council formally exercised its functions collectively, it was dominated by its chairman, especially if the chairman was also leader of the party. However, the body had some importance an advisory and decision-making body under Walter Ulbricht. When Ulbricht lost power in the early 1970s, the body was reduced to a ceremonial role. The changes of 1974 reflected this development.
The secretariat of the State Council was of some practical importance as its approximately 200 employees since 1961 dealt with citizens' petitions. Authorities in government and economics were obliged to cooperate with the secretariat on this.
When Egon Krenz, Honecker's successor as leader of the SED, had failed in his bid to preserve his party's rule in East Germany, he resigned from his offices in party and government, including in role as chairman of the State Council. To mark the end of the SED's monopoly on power, LDPD politician Manfred Gerlach was elected chairmen. However, the body ceased to be of political importance and merely oversaw the transition to the parliamentary elections of March 1990.
The new People's Chamber, the first that emerged from free elections, constituted on 5 April 1990. Among its first measures was an amendment to the constitution abolishing the State Council. As reunification with West Germany was foreseeable, the role of head of state was simply transferred to the President of the People's Chamber.
| Chairman | Political Party | Took Office | Left Office |
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| Walter Ulbricht | SED | 12 September 1960 | 1 August 1973 |
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State Council elected 12 September 1960
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State Council elected 13 November 1963
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State Council elected 13 Juli 1967
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State Council elected 26 November 1971
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| Willi Stoph | SED | 3 October 1973 | 29 October 1976 |
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Composition see above. |
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| Erich Honecker | SED | 29 October 1976 | 24 October 1989 |
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State Council elected 29 Oktober 1976
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State Council elected 25 June 1981
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State Council elected 16 June 1986
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| Egon Krenz | SED | 24 October 1989 | 6 December 1989 |
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Composition see above. |
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| Manfred Gerlach | LDPD | 6 December 1989 | 5 April 1990 |
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Composition see above. |
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