Lothar de Maizière

Lothar de Maizière
de Maizière in the aftermath of the 1990 East German general election
Minister for Special Affairs
In office 3 October 1990 – 17 December 1990 Serving with Rudolf Seiters, Hans Klein, Sabine Bergmann-Pohl, Günther Krause, Rainer Ortleb, Hansjoachim Walther
Chancellor	Helmut Kohl
Preceded by	Position established
Succeeded by	Position abolished
Minister-President of East Germany
In office 12 April 1990 – 2 October 1990
Head of state	Sabine Bergmann-Pohl (interim)
Deputy	Peter-Michael Diestel
Preceded by	Hans Modrow (as Chairman of the Council of Ministers)
Succeeded by	Helmut Kohl (as Chancellor of Germany)
Minister of Foreign Affairs
Acting
In office 20 August 1990 – 2 October 1990
Minister-President	himself
Preceded by	Markus Meckel
Succeeded by	Position abolished
Modrow Government Deputy Chairman of the Council of Ministers In office 18 November 1989 – 12 April 1990 Serving with Christa Luft, Peter Moreth Chairman Hans Modrow Preceded by Günther Kleiber Alfred Neumann Succeeded by Peter-Michael Diestel (Deputy Minister-President) Minister for Church Affairs In office 18 November 1989 – 12 April 1990 Chairman of the Council of Ministers Hans Modrow Preceded by Kurt Löffler (as State Secretary) Succeeded by Position abolished
Parliamentary constituencies Member of the Bundestag for Brandenburg (Volkskammer; 1990) In office 3 October 1990 – 15 October 1991 Preceded by Constituency established Succeeded by Else Ackermann Member of the Volkskammer for Berlin In office 5 April 1990 – 2 October 1990 Preceded by Constituency established Succeeded by Constituency abolished
Personal details
Born	(1940-03-02) 2 March 1940 Nordhausen, Province of Saxony, Free State of Prussia, Nazi Germany (now Thuringia, Germany)
Political party	Christian Democratic Union (1990–present)
Other political affiliations	Christian Democratic Union (East Germany) (1956–1990)
Children	3
Residence	Berlin
Alma mater	Hochschule für Musik Hanns Eisler Berlin Humboldt University of Berlin
Occupation	Politician Lawyer Musician
Signature
Other offices held 1990–1991: Deputy Chairman, Christian Democratic Union 1990–1991: Chairman, Christian Democratic Union of Brandenburg 1989–1990: Chairman, Christian Democratic Union (East Germany)
Leader of East Germany ← Modrow None (last holder)

Lothar de Maizière (German pronunciation: [də mɛˈzi̯ɛːɐ̯]; born 2 March 1940) is a German former Christian Democratic politician. In 1990, he served as the head of the first and only democratically elected government of East Germany, holding this office during the final months before German reunification. Subsequently he briefly served as a minister in the new government of the unified Federal Republic of Germany until his past as a Stasi informant was revealed.

Family background

Maizière belongs to a Huguenot family which takes its name from Maizières-lès-Metz and fled France for asylum in Prussia in the late 17th century; the Maizière family attended French-language schools and Huguenot churches in Berlin until the beginning of the 20th century. He is the son of lawyer Clement de Maizière. His uncle Ulrich de Maizière was Inspector General of the West German Bundeswehr. His cousin Thomas de Maizière was a close advisor to Former Chancellor Angela Merkel and served as the Federal Minister of the Interior from 17 December 2013 to 14 March 2018 in Merkel's third cabinet.

Early life and education

Lothar de Maizière was born in Nordhausen, Thuringia, and attended the ancient Berlinisches Gymnasium zum Grauen Kloster, where he was one of the last pupils before the school closed in 1958. He next studied viola at the Hanns Eisler College of Music in East Berlin from 1959 to 1965. He played in the Berlin Symphony Orchestra before studying law by distance learning through the Humboldt University of Berlin from 1969 to 1975.

Career

A longtime member of the East German Christian Democratic Union, Maizière helped oust the party's pro-Communist leadership after the fall of the Berlin Wall. He was elected the party's chairman in November 1989. In the first and only free election held in East Germany, which the Christian Democratic Union and its allies won, Maizière was elected to the Volkskammer. One month later, he succeeded Hans Modrow as Premier and held this position from 12 April until 2 October 1990, heading the de Maizière cabinet. Having run on a platform of speedy reunification with West Germany, Maizière signed the Treaty on the Final Settlement with Respect to Germany, which ended the World War II Allies' rights and responsibilities in Berlin and Germany and preceded German reunification. The treaty provided that it would be signed by the four Allies and the two Germanies but ratified following reunification. In accordance with that treaty, East Germany ceased to exist on 3 October, and its territory was annexed by the Federal Republic.

After German reunification, he was appointed Minister for Special Affairs in the CDU government of chancellor Helmut Kohl, until his resignation on 17 December 1990 after it became known that he had worked for the East German Stasi as an informant codenamed "IM Czerni".

External links

• Media related to Lothar de Maizière at Wikimedia Commons
• Quotations related to Lothar de Maizière at Wikiquote