Editing Hans Modrow

{{Short description|German politician (1928–2023)}}

{{Use British English|date=February 2023}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=February 2023}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| name                = Hans Modrow
| image               = File:Bundesarchiv Bild 183-1989-1117-431, Hans Modrow, Dr..jpg
| imagesize           = 
| caption             = Modrow in 1989
| office              = [[Council of Ministers of East Germany#Chairmen|Chairman]] of the<br />[[Council of Ministers of East Germany|Council of Ministers]]
| 1blankname          = {{nowrap|[[Leadership of East Germany#Heads of state|Head of state]]}}
| 1namedata           = {{Plainlist|
* [[Egon Krenz]]
* [[Manfred Gerlach]]
* [[Sabine Bergmann-Pohl]] (interim)
}}
| term_start          = 13 November 1989
| term_end            = 12 April 1990
| deputy1             = {{Plainlist|
* [[Christa Luft]]
* [[Peter Moreth]]
* Lothar de Maizière
}}
| predecessor1        = [[Willi Stoph]]
| successor1          = [[Lothar de Maizière]]<br />(as Minister-President)
| office2             = First Secretary of the [[Socialist Unity Party of Germany|Socialist Unity Party]]<br />in [[Bezirk Dresden]]
|1blankname2        = {{nowrap|Second Secretary}}
|1namedata2         = {{unbulleted list|Lothar Stammnitz}}
| term_start2         = 3 October 1973
| term_end2           = 15 November 1989
| predecessor2        = [[Werner Krolikowski]]
| successor2          = Hansjoachim Hahn
| office3             = Head of the [[Departments of the SED Central Committee#Agitation|Department for Agitation]] of the [[Socialist Unity Party of Germany#Central Committee|Central Committee]]
|1blankname3        = {{nowrap|[[Socialist Unity Party of Germany#Secretariat of the Central Committee|Secretary]]}}
|1namedata3         = {{unbulleted list|Werner Lamberz}}
| deputy4             = {{ubl|Eberhard Fensch|Hans-Joachim Kobert}}
| term_start3         = 19 June 1971
| term_end3           = 2 October 1973
| predecessor4        = [[Werner Lamberz]]
| successor4          = [[Heinz Geggel]]
{{Collapsed infobox section begin |last=yes |Parliamentary constituencies
 |titlestyle=border:1px dashed lightgrey;}}{{Infobox officeholder |embed=yes
|parliament5   = European
|constituency_MP5 = [[Germany (European Parliament constituency)|Germany]]
|term_start5   = [[1999 European Parliament election in Germany|20 July 1999]]
|term_end5     = [[2004 European Parliament election in Germany|20 July 2004]]
| predecessor5 = ''multi-member district''
| successor5 = ''multi-member district''
|office6       = [[Member of the German Bundestag|Member]] of the [[Bundestag]] <br /> for [[Mecklenburg-Vorpommern]]<br />([[Volkskammer]]; 1990)
| term_start6         = [[1990 German federal election#Campaign|3 October 1990]]
| term_end6           = [[1994 German federal election|10 November 1994]]
| predecessor6        = [[German reunification|''Constituency established'']]
| successor6          = ''multi-member district''
| office7             = Member of the [[Volkskammer]] <br /> for [[Bezirk Neubrandenburg|Neubrandenburg]]<br />(Dresden-Süd, Dresden-West, Dresden-Mitte;<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.gvoon.de/art/dokumente/1986/volkskammer-ddr-9-wahlperiode-1986-1990/pdf/volkskammer-ddr-9-wahlperiode-1986-1990-seite_029.pdf |title=''Volkskammer der Deutschen Demokratischen Republik 1986–1990'', Seite 29 |last=Schmidt |first=Arthur |date= |website=gvoon.de |publisher= |access-date=2023-07-24 |quote=}}</ref> 1976–1990)<br />([[East Berlin|Berlin]]; 1957–1976)
| term_start7         = [[1990 East German general election|5 April 1990]]
| term_end7           = 2 October 1990
| predecessor7        = ''Constituency established''
| successor7          = [[German reunification|''Constituency abolished'']]
| term_start8         = 11 December 1957
| term_end8           = 5 April 1990
| predecessor8        = Karl-Heinz Kniestedt
| successor8          = ''Constituency abolished''{{Collapsed infobox section end}}}}
| birth_date          = {{Birth date|1928|01|27|df=y}}
| birth_place         = Jasenitz, Pölitz, [[Province of Pomerania (1815–1945)|Pomerania]], Prussia<!-- DO NOT LINK, see [[MOS:GEOLINK]] for further guidance -->, Germany<!-- DO NOT LINK, see [[MOS:GEOLINK]] for further guidance --> {{avoid wrap|(now [[Jasienica, Police|Jasienica]], Poland)}}
| death_date          = {{Death date and age|2023|02|10|1928|01|27|df=y}}
| death_place         = [[Berlin]], Germany
| party               = [[The Left (Germany)|The Left]] (2007–2023)
| otherparty          = {{Plainlist|
* [[Party of Democratic Socialism (Germany)|Party of Democratic Socialism]] {{nowrap|(1989–2007)}}
* [[Socialist Unity Party of Germany|Socialist Unity Party]] {{nowrap|(1949–1989)}}
}}
| spouse              = {{marriage|Annemarie Straubing|2003}}
| children            = 2
| residence           = 
| occupation          = {{Flatlist|
* Economist
* [[Locksmith]]
* Politician}}
| alma_mater          = {{Plainlist|
* [[Parteihochschule Karl Marx|Party Academy Karl Marx]]
* ''Hochschule für Ökonomie Berlin''
* [[Humboldt University of Berlin]] (Dr. rer. oec.)
}}
| module2             = {{collapsible list
| title = Central institution membership
| bullets = on
| 1989: Full member,<br />[[Socialist Unity Party of Germany#Politburo of the Central Committee|Politburo of the Central Committee]]
| 1967–1989: Full member,<br />[[Socialist Unity Party of Germany#Central Committee|Central Committee]]
| 1958–1967: Candidate member,<br />[[Socialist Unity Party of Germany#Central Committee|Central Committee]]
}}
----
{{collapsible list
| title = Other offices held
| bullets = on
| 1967–1973: Secretary for Agitation and Propaganda, [[Socialist Unity Party of Germany|Socialist Unity Party]] in [[East Berlin|Berlin]]
| 1961–1967: First Secretary,<br />[[Socialist Unity Party of Germany|Socialist Unity Party]] in [[Köpenick#History|Berlin-Köpenick]]
| 1958: Chairman,<br />[[Free German Youth]] in the [[Volkskammer]]
| 1953–1961: First Secretary,<br />[[Free German Youth]] in [[East Berlin|Berlin]]
}}
| module3          = 
'''[[Lists of political office-holders in East Germany#Overview|Leader of East Germany]]'''
{{flatlist|
* {{big|'''←'''}} [[Egon Krenz|Krenz]]
* [[Lothar de Maizière|de Maizière]]{{big|'''→'''}}
}}
| title               = 
| title1              = 
}}

'''Hans Modrow''' ({{IPA|de|ˈhans ˈmoːdʁo}}; 27 January 1928 – 10 February 2023) was a German politician best known as the last communist [[premier of East Germany]].

Coming into office amidst the [[Peaceful Revolution]], he was the ''de facto'' leader of East Germany through the winter of 1989-90. He presided over a [[transitional government]], paving the way to [[1990 East German general election|the first and only free elections in East Germany]]. [[Modrow government|His cabinet]] was the last over which the SED presided, as well as the first to include opposition members.

After the end of Communist rule and [[reunification of Germany]], he was convicted of [[electoral fraud]] and [[perjury]] by the Dresden District Court in 1995, on the basis that he had been the Socialist Unity Party (SED) official nominally in charge of the electoral process. He was later convicted of the first charge and was given a nine-month suspended sentence. One of the few high-ranking former SED officials to not have been expelled, he was the honorary chairman of the [[Party of Democratic Socialism (Germany)|Party of Democratic Socialism]] (PDS)<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.spiegel.de/international/germany/0,1518,655350,00.html|title=West German Secret Service Opens GDR Files|work=Der Spiegel|date=16 October 2009|access-date=18 February 2010}}</ref> and was the president of the "council of elders" of the [[Left Party (Germany)|Left Party]] from 2007.<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.maz-online.de/Brandenburg/Frueherer-DDR-Ministerpraesident-Hans-Modrow-diskutiert-mit-Potsdamern |title=Modrow: "Die Gefahr von Krieg war nach 1945 noch nie so hoch wie jetzt" |newspaper=Märkische Allgemeine |date=22 February 2019}}</ref>

==Early life and education==
Modrow was born on 27 January 1928 in [[Jasienica, Police|Jasenitz]], Province of Pomerania<!-- DO NOT LINK, see [[MOS:GEOLINK]] for further guidance -->, German Reich<!-- DO NOT LINK, see [[MOS:GEOLINK]] for further guidance -->, now [[Jasienica, Police|Jasienica]], part of the town of [[Police, West Pomeranian Voivodeship|Police]] in Poland.<ref>{{Cite book|last1=Osmond|first1=Jonathan|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0hNoAAAAMAAJ&q=Hans+Modrow+27+jan+1928|title=German Reunification: A Reference Guide and Commentary |last2=Alsop |first2=Rachel |date=1992 |publisher=Longman|isbn=978-0-582-09650-9|page=226}}</ref><ref name="Zur Person">{{cite web|url=https://www.rosalux.de/fileadmin/rls_uploads/pdfs/ADS/Findbuch_04.pdf|title=Findbücher / 04 Bestand: Dr. Hans Modrow, MdB (1990 bis 1994) |publisher=[[Rosa Luxemburg Foundation]] |date=June 2001|access-date=28 February 2019|language=de}}</ref> As a child he was a [[Hitler Youth]] leader and attended a [[Volksschule]]. He trained as a [[machinist]] from 1942 to 1945 when he was filled with intense hatred of the [[Bolsheviks]], whom he deemed as [[Untermensch|subhumans]], inferior to Germans physically and morally.<ref name="IC">{{cite book |last1=Applebaum |first1=Anne |title=Iron Curtain: The Crushing of Eastern Europe 1944–1956 |url=https://archive.org/details/ironcurtaincrush00appl_0 |url-access=registration |date=2012 |publisher=Doubleday |location=New York  |isbn=9780385515696 |page=[https://archive.org/details/ironcurtaincrush00appl_0/page/17 17]-18}}</ref><ref name=":0">{{Cite web |title=I Was the Last Communist Premier of East Germany |url=https://jacobinmag.com/2019/11/berlin-wall-fall-east-germany-hans-modrow-cold-war |access-date=5 April 2022 |website=Jacobin Magazine|date=2019 |author= Alex Brown | type= interview with Hans Modrow}}</ref> For six months during the [[Strategic bombing during World War II|Allied bombing]] of [[Szczecin|Stettin]] he served as a volunteer firefighter.<ref name=":0" /> He later served briefly in the [[Volkssturm]] in January 1945,<ref name=":0" /><ref name="Zur Person"/> and was subsequently captured as a [[prisoner of war]] by the Soviet [[Red Army]] in [[Stralsund]] in May 1945. He and other German prisoners were sent to a farm in [[Hinterpommern]] to work. Upon arrival, his backpack was stolen, making him begin to rethink the Germans' so-called camaraderie. Days later, he was appointed a driver to a Soviet captain, who asked him about [[Heinrich Heine]], a German poet. Modrow had never heard of him and felt embarrassed that the people he thought of as "subhumans" knew more about [[German culture]] than he. Transported to a [[German prisoners of war in the Soviet Union|POW camp]] near Moscow, he joined a [[National Committee for a Free Germany]] anti-fascist school run by future SED Politburo member [[Alfred Neumann (East German politician)|Alfred Neumann]] for [[Wehrmacht]] members and received training in [[Marxism–Leninism]], which he embraced.<ref name="IC"/><ref name=":0" /> Upon release in 1949 he worked as a machinist for [[LEW Hennigsdorf]].<ref name="Zur Person"/> That same year he joined the [[Socialist Unity Party of Germany|Socialist Unity Party]] (SED).<ref name="Zur Person"/>

From 1949 to 1961, Modrow worked in various functions for the [[Free German Youth]] (FDJ) in [[Brandenburg]], [[Mecklenburg]], and Berlin and in 1952 and 1953 studied at the [[Komsomol]] college in Moscow.<ref name="Zur Person"/> In 1953, he attended the [[Death and state funeral of Joseph Stalin|state funeral of Joseph Stalin]]. After [[Nikita Khrushchev]]'s [[On the Cult of Personality and Its Consequences|Secret Speech]] at the [[20th Congress of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union|20th Party Congress]] condemning Stalin and beginning [[de-Stalinization]], Modrow claimed to have complained to his former teacher Neumann "Comrade, this is unacceptable — you are accusing us of having learned Stalin off by heart, but I never had the inclination to do this myself, you asked us to!"<ref name=":0" /> From 1953 to 1961, he served as an FDJ functionary in [[East Berlin]].<ref name="Zur Person"/> From 1954 to 1957, he studied at the SED's Karl Marx School in Berlin, graduating as a social scientist.<ref name="Zur Person"/> In 1959 to 1961 he studied at the University of Economics in Berlin-[[Karlshorst]] and obtained the degree of graduate economist.<ref name="Zur Person"/> He gained his doctorate at the [[Humboldt University of Berlin]] in 1966.<ref name="Zur Person"/> West Germany's [[Federal Intelligence Service (Germany)|Federal Intelligence Service]] (BND) kept Modrow under observation from 1958 to 2013.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Heilig|first=René|title=BND spionierte mindestens 71.500 DDR-Bürger aus |url=https://www.nd-aktuell.de/artikel/958750.bnd-spionierte-mindestens-ddr-buerger-aus.html|access-date=11 February 2023|website=Redaktion nd |language=de | date= 2015}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |author=David Martin |url=https://www.dw.com/en/last-east-german-leader-hans-modrow-demands-access-to-wests-intelligence-files/a-42774003 |title=Last East German leader Hans Modrow demands access to West's intelligence files |work=[[Deutsche Welle]] |date=28 February 2018 |access-date=17 February 2019}}</ref>

==Communist party career==
Modrow had a long political career in East Germany, serving as a member of the ''[[Volkskammer]]'' from 1957 to 1990 and in the SED's [[Central Committee]] (ZK) from 1967 to 1989, having previously been a candidate for the ZK from 1958 to 1967.<ref name="Zur Person"/> From 1961 to 1967 he was first secretary of the district administration of the SED in Berlin-[[Köpenick]] and secretary for [[Agitprop|agitation and propaganda]] from 1967 to 1971 in the SED's district leadership in Berlin.<ref name="Zur Person"/> During this time he was involved in the formation of the [[1. FC Union Berlin|Union Berlin]] football club,<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2023/02/15/world/europe/hans-modrow-dead.html |title=Hans Modrow, 95, Dies; One of East Germany's Last Communist Leaders |newspaper=The New York Times |first=Christopher F. |last=Schuetze |date=15 February 2023 |accessdate=16 February 2023}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last=Ludewig |first=Alexander |date=12 February 2016 |title=Der 1. FC Union als Hauptstadtklub im geteilten Berlin |url=https://www.neues-deutschland.de/artikel/1001500.der-fc-union-als-hauptstadtklub-im-geteilten-berlin.html |language=German |newspaper=[[Neues Deutschland]] |location=Berlin |publisher=Neues Deutschland Druckerei und Verlag GmbH |access-date=16 February 2023}}</ref> which is based in the Köpenick district. From 1971 to 1973 he worked as the head of the SED's [[Departments of the SED Central Committee#Agitation|Department for Agitation]].<ref name="Zur Person"/> In 1975 he was awarded the GDR's [[Patriotic Order of Merit]] in gold<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nd-archiv.de/artikel/1503455.vaterlaendischer-verdienstorden-in-gold.html|title=Vaterländischer Verdienstorden in Gold|language=de|work=Neues Deutschland|page=5|date=1 October 1975|url-access=subscription}}</ref> and received the award of the [[Order of Karl Marx]] in 1978.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nd-archiv.de/artikel/1852762.karl-marx-orden-an-hans-modrow-verliehen.html|title=Karl-Marx-Orden an Hans Modrow verliehen|language=de|work=Neues Deutschland|page=2|date=28 January 1978|url-access=subscription}}</ref>

From 1973 onward, he was the SED's first secretary in [[Bezirk Dresden]], making him the top official in East Germany's third-largest [[Administrative divisions of East Germany#List of Bezirke|district]].<ref name="Zur Person"/> He was prevented from rising to national office, largely because he was one of the few in leadership to publicly oppose [[Erich Honecker]]. He developed some important contacts with the [[Soviet Union]], including eventual Soviet leader [[Mikhail Gorbachev]]. Modrow initially supported Gorbachev's [[glasnost]] and [[perestroika]] reforms.<ref name=":0" /> In early 1987, Gorbachev and the [[KGB]] considered facilitating Honecker's ouster with a view to bringing Modrow to leadership.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.bild.de/news/bild-english/kgb-secret-1987-coup-plot-against-east-german-leader-9366104.bild.html |title=Did KGB plot a coup against the East German leader in 1987? |work=[[Bild]] |date=30 October 2009 |access-date=17 July 2019}}</ref> From 1988 to 1989, the [[Stasi]], under the orders of Honecker and [[Erich Mielke]], vigorously investigated Modrow to attempt to frame him for [[high treason]].<ref>{{cite web |author=Andreas Debski |url=http://www.lvz.de/Region/Mitteldeutschland/Honecker-wollte-Modrow-ins-Gefaengnis-sperren-lassen |title=Honecker wollte Modrow ins Gefängnis sperren lassen |work=[[Leipziger Volkszeitung]] |date=5 June 2018 |access-date=16 February 2019 |language=de}}</ref>

==Peaceful Revolution and premiership==
During the Peaceful Revolution of 1989, Modrow ordered thousands of [[Volkspolizei]], Stasi, [[Combat Groups of the Working Class]], and [[National People's Army]] troops to crush a demonstration at the [[Dresden Hauptbahnhof]] on 4–5 October. Some 1,300 people were arrested. In a top secret and encrypted [[telex]] to Honecker on 9 October, Modrow reported: "With the determined commitment of the comrades of the security organs, anti-state terrorist riots were suppressed".<ref name="focus">{{cite web |author=Gerhard Besier |url=https://www.focus.de/politik/deutschland/sed-pds-vom-ehrlichen-hans_aid_161613.html |title=SED/PDS Vom ehrlichen Hans |work=[[Focus (German magazine)|Focus]] |date=25 November 1996 |access-date=17 July 2019 |language=de |archive-date=17 July 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190717005231/https://www.focus.de/politik/deutschland/sed-pds-vom-ehrlichen-hans_aid_161613.html |url-status=dead}}</ref>

When Honecker was toppled on 18 October, Gorbachev hoped that Modrow would replace him; [[Egon Krenz]] was selected instead.<ref>{{cite book|last=Sebetsyen|first=Victor|title=Revolution 1989: The Fall of the Soviet Empire|publisher=[[Pantheon Books]]|location=New York City |year=2009|isbn=978-0-375-42532-5|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/revolution1989fa00sebe}}</ref> <!--According to Modrow, Soviet General Secretary [[Mikhail Gorbachev]] asked Krenz to bring Modrow into the government. -->Following [[Willi Stoph]]'s resignation on 13 November, four days after fall of the [[Berlin Wall]], Modrow became Chairman of the Council of Ministers (Premier). On 1 December, the SED gave up its "[[leading role of the party|leading role]]," formally ending communist rule in East Germany. Krenz resigned two days later. With the SED Politburo, until then the top leadership body, in disarray, Modrow, as Premier and the top state (rather than party) official, and thus the only person with a viable claim to power outside the imploding SED structure, became leader of the country more or less by default.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Wilke |first=Manfred |date=13 November 2013 |title=Sündenbock der Partei |trans-title=Party scapegoat |url=https://www.focus.de/politik/deutschland/suendenbock-der-partei-mauerfall_id_2168856.html |access-date=16 February 2023 |website=[[Focus (German magazine)|Focus]] |language=de |archive-date=17 February 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230217045248/https://www.focus.de/politik/deutschland/suendenbock-der-partei-mauerfall_id_2168856.html |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Wehner |first=Markus |date=16 April 2007 |title=Die Partei, die Partei, die hat niemals Schuld |language=de |trans-title=The party, the party, is never to blame |work=[[Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung]] |url=https://www.faz.net/aktuell/politik/inland/sed-vergangenheit-die-partei-die-partei-die-hat-niemals-schuld-1436236.html |access-date=17 February 2023 |issn=0174-4909}}</ref>

Seeking to defuse growing pressure to dissolve the [[Ministry of State Security (East Germany)|Ministry of State Security]], Modrow arranged for its renaming to the "Office for National Security" (Amt für Nationale Sicherheit – AfNS) on 17 November. A second rebranding as the "Office for the Protection of the Constitution of the GDR" (Verfassungsschutz der DDR) failed due to public and opposition pressure; the AfNS/Stasi was disbanded on 13 January 1990.{{sfn|Friedheim|1995|p=168}} The Modrow government gave orders to destroy incriminating Stasi files.<ref name="focus"/>

On 7 December, Modrow's government agreed at the [[East German Round Table|Round Table]] to hold [[1990 East German general election|free elections]] in May 1990. Modrow and the Round Table agreed on 28 January to bring the elections forward to 18 March. By this time, the SED had added "[[Party of Democratic Socialism (Germany)|Party of Democratic Socialism]]" to its name; this became its sole name in February. Some of the left-wing Round Table groups opposed [[Helmut Kohl]]'s conservative [[Third Kohl cabinet|government]] in the West, and worked with Modrow to arrest the pace of unification with West Germany. With his authority as head of the regime rapidly waning, in February, he proposed a three-stage process that would create a neutral German Confederation and continued to oppose "rapid" reunification. Nonetheless, popular support was with the opposition in favor of merger with the West and Modrow's stance quickly became untenable.{{sfn|Friedheim|1995|pp=167–174}}

On 5 February, Modrow appointed eight opposition [[Minister without portfolio|ministers without portfolio]] to [[Modrow government|his cabinet]]. On 13 February, Modrow met with West German Chancellor [[Helmut Kohl]], asking for an emergency loan of 15&nbsp;billion [[Deutsche Mark|DM]] to stabilize the collapsing Eastern economy, which was rejected by Kohl.<ref>{{Cite news |author=Holger Schmale |url=https://www.berliner-zeitung.de/treffen-von-hans-modrow-und-helmut-kohl-1990-die-delegation-aus-ost-berlin-fuehlte-sich-gedemuetigt-3307722 |title=Treffen von Hans Modrow und Helmut Kohl 1990: Die Delegation aus Ost-Berlin fühlte sich gedemütigt |newspaper=Berliner Zeitung |date=12 February 2015 }}{{Dead link|date=July 2024 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> Modrow remained premier until the formation of the [[De Maizière cabinet]] in April following [[1990 East German general election|elections in which the PDS placed third]].<ref name="Zur Person"/> The PDS had already ejected [[Erich Honecker|Honecker]], [[Egon Krenz|Krenz]], and other Communist-era leaders in February.<ref>{{Cite news |author=Stefan Reinecke |url=https://taz.de/PDS-Rauswurf-von-Egon-Krenz-1990/!5654863 |title=PDS-Rauswurf von Egon Krenz 1990|newspaper=die Tageszeitung |date=20 January 2020}}</ref>

<gallery widths="190px" heights="135px">
File:Bundesarchiv Bild 183-1989-1117-018, Hans Modrow.jpg|Modrow addressing the Volkskammer on 17 November 1989
File:KohlModrowMomperBrandenburgerTor.jpg|Modrow with West German Chancellor [[Helmut Kohl]] during the opening of the [[Brandenburg Gate]] on 22 December 1989
File:Bundesarchiv Bild 183-1990-0313-021, Demmin, PDS-Wahlkampfauftritt Hans Modrow.jpg|Modrow giving a speech at a rally on 13 March 1990
File:Bundesarchiv Bild 183-1990-0412-024, Berlin, Lothar de Maiziere und Modrow.jpg|Modrow congratulating his successor, [[Lothar de Maizière]], on his election as Minister-President
</gallery>

==Criminal sentence==
[[File:Modrow.jpg|thumb|upright|Modrow in 1999]]

On 27 May 1993, the Dresden District Court found Modrow guilty of [[electoral fraud]] committed in the May 1989 Dresden local elections, specifically, understating the percentage of voters who refused to vote for the official slate.<ref name=NYTvote/> The judge declined to impose a prison sentence or a fine.<ref name=NYTvote>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1993/05/28/world/ex-east-german-leader-convicted-of-vote-fraud-but-not-punished.html?pagewanted=1|title=Ex-East German Leader Convicted Of Vote Fraud but Not Punished|work=The New York Times|access-date=18 February 2010 | first=Stephen | last=Kinzer | date=28 May 1993}}</ref> The Dresden District Court revoked the decision in August 1995 and Modrow was sentenced to nine months on probation.<ref>{{in lang|de}} [http://www.mz-web.de/politik/urteil-bewaehrungsstrafe-fuer-hans-modrow,20642162,18110648.html Urteil: Bewährungsstrafe für Hans Modrow] [[Mitteldeutsche Zeitung]]. 10 May 2009. Retrieved 11 February 2014.</ref><ref>{{in lang|de}} [http://www.mdr.de/damals/archiv/modrowhans100.html Modrow, Hans] [[Mitteldeutscher Rundfunk]]. Retrieved 11 February 2014.</ref> Modrow did not directly deny the charges, but argued that the trial was politically motivated and that the court lacked jurisdiction for crimes committed in East Germany.  "We were all members of a political system," he said, speaking to the court in Dresden.  "Some perhaps had the good fortune not to come into contact with manipulation, while others could not or were not allowed to turn away."<ref name=NYTvote/>

==Later life and death==
After [[German reunification]], Modrow served as a member of the [[Bundestag]] (1990–1994)<ref name="Zur Person"/> and of the [[European Parliament]] (1999–2004).<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.europarl.europa.eu/meps/en/4301/HANS_MODROW_home.html|title=Hans Modrow |work=European Parliament MEPs|publisher=European Parliament|access-date=3 May 2015}}</ref> After leaving office, he wrote a number of books on his political experiences, his continued Marxist political views, and his disappointment at the dissolution of the [[Eastern Bloc]].<ref name="perestroika_and_germany">{{cite book|title=Perestroika and Germany: the truth behind the myths| date=2014 | isbn = 9780955822858|publisher=Artery Publications |ref=perestroika_and_germany | author= Hans Modrow}}</ref><ref name="aufbruch_und_ende">{{cite book|title=Aufbruch und Ende| date=1989 |publisher=Edition Berolina|isbn= 9783867898157 |ref=aufbruch_und_ende | language=de | author= Hans Modrow}}</ref> Although a supporter of Gorbachev's reforms in the 1980s, after the [[Revolutions of 1989|fall of Communism]] he criticised them for weakening the [[Eastern Bloc]]'s economy.<ref name=":0" /> In 2006, he suggested both [[West Germany]] and East Germany were responsible for the killings of East Germans by the communist regime at the [[Berlin Wall]], and later defended the construction of the wall as a necessary measure to prevent a war over West Berlin.<ref name=":1">{{Cite web |date=6 November 2019 |title=The post-Wall, Cold War world of Hans Modrow, East Germany's last leader |url=https://www.france24.com/en/20191106-the-post-wall-cold-war-world-of-hans-modrow-east-germany-s-last-leader |access-date=5 April 2022 |work=France 24 |author=Sébastian Seibt}}</ref> He also called [[East Germany]] an "effective democracy".<ref>{{Cite web|title=- "Ich war kein Held" | work= Cicero Magazine |url=https://www.cicero.de/innenpolitik/ich-war-kein-held/37382|access-date=11 February 2023|language=de | author= Dirk von Nayhauss | type= interview with Hans Modrow|date=  May 2006}}</ref> He was criticised for maintaining contacts with [[Neo-Stalinism|Neo-Stalinist]] groups.<ref>{{cite web |author=Stefan Berg |url=http://www.spiegel.de/politik/deutschland/vergangenheitsbewaeltigung-modrows-kontakte-zu-neostalinisten-belasten-die-linke-a-611487.html |title=Vergangenheitsbewältigung: Modrows Kontakte zu Neostalinisten belasten die Linke |work=[[Der Spiegel]] |date=3 May 2009 |access-date=16 February 2019 |language=de}}</ref> In 2018, he sued the [[Federal Intelligence Service]] for access to West German intelligence files on him from the [[Cold War]].<ref>{{Cite web  |title=Last East German leader Hans Modrow demands access to West's intelligence files |date= 28 February 2018 |url=https://www.dw.com/en/last-east-german-leader-hans-modrow-demands-access-to-wests-intelligence-files/a-42774003 |access-date=5 April 2022 |work=Deutsche Welle |language=en-GB}}</ref> In 2019 he criticised the [[enlargement of NATO]], which he also opposed reunified Germany's membership in.<ref name=":1" /> Modrow died on 10 February 2023, aged 95.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.eulenspiegel.com/home/aktuell/1318-hans-modrow-ist-tot.html | title=Hans Modrow ist tot | work= Eulenspiegel Verlagsgruppe | language= de | date= 2023}}{{pb}}{{cite web |url=https://www.tagesschau.de/eilmeldung/eilmeldung-7063.html |title=Ex-DDR-Regierungschef Modrow gestorben |language=de |date=11 February 2023 |website=[[Tagesschau (German TV programme)|Tagesschau]] |access-date=11 February 2023}}</ref><ref name=":2">{{cite news |title=East Germany's last Communist premier dies aged 95 |url=https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/east-germanys-last-communist-premier-dies-aged-95-2023-02-11/ |access-date=11 February 2023 |work=Reuters |date=11 February 2023 |language=en}}</ref> He was buried at [[Dorotheenstadt Cemetery]].<ref>{{cite web|access-date=2023-03-18|date=2023-03-16|title=Abschied von Hans Modrow: Altkanzler Schröder kam zur Trauerfeier in Berlin|url=https://www.berliner-zeitung.de/news/abschied-von-sed-funktionaer-hans-modrow-in-berlin-altkanzler-gerhard-schroeder-kommt-zur-trauerfeier-li.327946}}<!-- auto-translated by Module:CS1 translator -->{{pb}}{{cite web|access-date=2023-03-18|author=Maritta Adam-Tkalec|date=2023-03-16|title=Gäste enttäuscht: Trauerfeier für Hans Modrow ohne Repräsentanten des Staates|url=https://www.berliner-zeitung.de/mensch-metropole/gaeste-enttaeuscht-trauerfeier-fuer-hans-modrow-ohne-repraesentanten-des-staates-li.328108|website=[[Berliner Zeitung]]}}<!-- auto-translated by Module:CS1 translator -->{{pb}}[https://www.youtube.com/watch?app=desktop&v=_yNFf8SN7fE Programm der Trauerfeier für Hans Modrow] auf www.youtube.com, retrieved 18 March 2023.</ref>

==Citations==
{{reflist|30em}}

==References==
{{refbegin}}
* {{cite book| editor-last1 = Shain| editor-first1 = Yossi| editor-last2 = Linz| editor-first2 = Juan J.| title = Between States: Interim Governments and Democratic Transitions| chapter=Accelerating collapse: The East German road from liberalisation to power-sharing and its legacy |author-last=Friedheim|author-first=Daniel V.| publisher = Cambridge University Press| location = Cambridge| year = 1995| isbn = 0-521-47417-5}}
{{refend}}

{{s-start}}
{{s-off}}
{{succession box |
 title=[[Leaders of East Germany|Chairman of the Council of Ministers of the German Democratic Republic]]|
 before=[[Willi Stoph]]|
 after=[[Lothar de Maizière]]|
 years=1989–1990}}
{{s-end}}
{{Heads of government of the German Democratic Republic}}
{{Members of the 11th Bundestag}}
{{Members of the 12th Bundestag}}
{{European Parliament MEPs, 1999-2004 (Germany) by party}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Modrow, Hans}}
[[Category:1928 births]]
[[Category:2023 deaths]]
[[Category:People from Police, West Pomeranian Voivodeship]]
[[Category:Politicians from the Province of Pomerania]]
[[Category:Members of the Politburo of the Central Committee of the Socialist Unity Party of Germany]]
[[Category:Party of Democratic Socialism (Germany) politicians]]
[[Category:Die Linke politicians]]
[[Category:Prime ministers of East Germany]]
[[Category:Members of the 2nd Volkskammer]]
[[Category:Members of the 3rd Volkskammer]]
[[Category:Members of the 4th Volkskammer]]
[[Category:Members of the 5th Volkskammer]]
[[Category:Members of the 6th Volkskammer]]
[[Category:Members of the 7th Volkskammer]]
[[Category:Members of the 8th Volkskammer]]
[[Category:Members of the 9th Volkskammer]]
[[Category:Members of the 10th Volkskammer]]
[[Category:Members of the Bundestag for the Party of Democratic Socialism (Germany)]]
[[Category:Members of the Bundestag 1990–1994]]
[[Category:Members of the Bundestag for Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania]]
[[Category:Members of the Landtag of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania]]
[[Category:Die Linke MEPs]]
[[Category:MEPs for Germany 1999–2004]]
[[Category:Free German Youth members]]
[[Category:Volkssturm personnel]]
[[Category:Child soldiers in World War II]]
[[Category:German prisoners of war in World War II held by the Soviet Union]]
[[Category:German politicians convicted of crimes]]
[[Category:Recipients of the Order of Karl Marx]]
[[Category:Recipients of the Patriotic Order of Merit in gold]]
[[Category:Recipients of the Banner of Labor]]
[[Category:Burials at the Dorotheenstadt Cemetery]]