German Communist Party

The German Communist Party (German: Deutsche Kommunistische Partei, DKP) is a minor communist party in Germany.[2] The DKP supports far-left positions and was an observer member of the European Left. At the end of February 2016 it left the European party.[3][4]

For the former party, see Communist Party of Germany.
For other uses, see Communist Party of Germany (disambiguation).

German Communist Party

Deutsche Kommunistische Partei
LeaderPatrik Köbele
Founded1968
HeadquartersHoffnungstraße 18, 45127 Essen
NewspaperUnsere zeit
Youth wingSocialist German Workers Youth
Membership (2019)2.850[1]
IdeologyCommunism
Marxism–Leninism
Political positionFar-left
European affiliationEuropean Anti-Capitalist Left
International affiliationIMCWP
ICS (Defunct)
European Parliament groupNo MEPs
ColorsRed
Bundestag
0 / 709
European Parliament
0 / 96
Website
www.dkp.de

History

The DKP considered itself a reconstitution of the Communist Party of Germany (KPD), which had been banned by the Federal Constitutional Court in 1956 for its aggressively militant opposition to the West German constitution. The new party was formed in 1969[5] by former KPD functionaries in close cooperation with East Germany's ruling party, the Socialist Unity Party (SED), from which the DKP received both political directives and – through covert transfers – most of its funds.[2]

The foundation was preceded by talks between former KPD functionaries and Gustav Heinemann, the West German minister of justice, who explained to them that while a refounding of a banned party was not legally possible, Communists were free to form an entirely new party.[6] Even though the close links to the banned KPD made the new party liable to be declared illegal, no such declaration was requested by the German government as West German authorities were liberalizing the attitude towards the communist bloc and East Germany in particular.

The DKP remained on the political fringe, never winning more than 0.3% of the total votes in federal elections.[7] It had relatively greater local support in the 1970s: it achieved up to 2.2% of the vote in Hamburg, 3.1% in Bremen and 2.7% in the Saarland. Following German reunification, the DKP entered a steady decline.[2]

The DKP received national public attention in early 2008 when Christel Wegner, elected to the state parliament of Lower Saxony on the list of the Left Party as the first DKP member of a state parliament, allegedly endorsed the Berlin Wall, the Stasi and other aspects of the East German state in an interview. This caused embarrassment to the national Left Party leadership.[2] Despite denying that she made the controversial statements (at least in the form that was reported) she was expelled from the Left Party faction a few days later.[8]

The DKP ended its observer status in the Party of the European Left on 27 February 2016.[9]

Media

The party operates a weekly newspaper, Unsere Zeit.

Election results

Bundestag
Bundestag
Election year # of total votes % of overall vote # of seats
1972 113,891 0.3% 0
1976 118,581 0.3% 0
1980 71,600 0.2% 0
1983 64,986 0.2% 0
1987 - - -
1990 - - -
1994 - - -
1998 - - -
2002 - - -
2005 - - -
2009 1,894 0.0% 0
2013 - - -
2017 11,558 0.0% 0

European Parliament
European Parliament
Election year # of total votes % of overall vote # of seats
1979 112,055 0.4% 0
1984 - - -
1989 57,704 0.2% 0
1994 - - -
1999 - - -
2004 37,160 0.1% 0
2009 25,615 0.1% 0
2014 25,204 0.1% 0
2019 20,419 0.1% 0

See also

Footnotes
  1. "Verfassungsschutzbericht 2019". Bundesambt für Verfassungsschutz. 9 July 2019. Retrieved 2020-04-09.
  2. Björn Hengst, Philipp Wittrock (19 February 2008). "Linke zeigt Kommunisten die Rote Karte" (in German). Spiegel Online.
  3. "Für die EU, ohne die DKP". Junge Welt. 29 February 2016. Retrieved 2 December 2016.
  4. "DKP leaves the European Left". 1 March 2016.
  5. Encyclopedia of contemporary German culture. Sandford, John, 1944 January 1-. London: Routledge. 1999. ISBN 0415245885. OCLC 48138199.CS1 maint: others (link)
  6. Helmut Bilstein et al, Organisierter Kommunismus in der Bundesrepublik Deutschland, Opladen 1977, p. 16.
  7. Deutsche Welle - Wahl 2005 Archived 2006-10-06 at the Wayback Machine
  8. Aktuell
  9. "ELP-Beobachterstatus beendet « DKP-Nachrichtenportal" (in German). Retrieved 2019-05-23.
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