Socialist Unity Party of Germany

The Socialist Unity Party of Germany (German: Sozialistische Einheitspartei Deutschlands, or SED) was the governing party of East Germany from its formation in 1949 until the elections of 1990. The SED was created in 1946 from a Soviet-influenced merger between the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD) members and the Communist Party of Germany (KPD) members who lived in the Soviet-occupied zone of Germany and the Soviet-occupied sector of Berlin. After 1990, the party reformed itself as the Party of Democratic Socialism, and continues to be a notable force in German government on the state and local levels in former East German territory.

List of Prominent SED Members

• Walter Ulbricht, first leader of East Germany
• Erich Honecker - supervised construction of the Berlin Wall; later premier of East Germany.
• Egon Krenz - Briefly succeeded Honecker as last SED premier of East Germany; was followed by Lothar de Maizière, a CDU member who lead East Germany until the reunification took place some months later.