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Chronicle 1990

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    • 2 May

      1990

      GDR Prime Minister Lothar de Maizière and West German Chancellor Helmut Kohl drink to the signing of the treaty on the economic, currency and social union between the FRG and the GDR
      After the conclusion of negotiations, the two German governments issue a joint statement announcing the signing of a treaty between the Federal Republic and the GDR on the introduction of a monetary, economic and social union that is to enter into effect on July 1, 1990. more
    • 3 May

      1990

      The chairman of the GDR Council of Ministers, Lothar de Maizière, announces in East Berlin that January 1, 1991, has been set as a date for the reintroduction of federal states (Länder) in the GDR, thus signalling that he no longer expects pan-German elections during 1990. more
    • 5 May

      1990

      The first foreign ministers' conference of the two-plus-four negotiations on the external aspects of German unity takes place in Bonn. more
    • 6 May

      1990

      Lothar de Maizière and Gregor Gysi shortly before the beginning of a TV election broadcast on the eve of local elections in the GDR, 6 May 1990
      The CDU emerges as the strongest party (37.37%) from the first free GDR local elections. Second strongest is the SPD (21.27%). The PDS receives 14.59% of the vote.


      But the CDU has lost votes compared with the Volkskammer election (40.6%). In Leipzig, for example, the SPD is the victor with 35.13% (Volkskammer elections: 26.13%). The CDU receives 26.79% (Volkskammer elections: 28.69%) The biggest loss of votes occurs in Leipzig in the case of the DSU, which gets just 4.25% of the votes in comparison with 12.51% at the Volkskammer elections. At 13.02%, the PDS is just under the state average in Leipzig. Results from the GDR local elections of 6 May 1990 (in German) less
    • 8 May

      1990

      In Brussels, the EC and the GDR sign an agreement on trade and cooperation. The agreement covers a ten-year period. In addition, the EC foreign ministers declare their willingness to abolish obligatory visas for GDR citizens travelling to EC states as of 1 July 1990. Controls on the inner German border are also to cease on this day.
    • 8 May

      1990

      Storm on the State Insurance company of the GDR after it has been announced that insurance policies are to change to DM at the rate of 2:1
      There is a run on the GDR's State Insurance because of the exchange rate being set at 1:2 for insurance companies. more
    • 10 May

      1990

      The chairman of the Council of Ministers, Lothar de Maizière, and the West Berlin Ruling Mayor Walter Momper agree to remove controls on the inner-city borders as of July 1990 in Berlin as well.
    • 10 May

      1990

      Since details of the planned currency, economic and social union have been announced, there have been protests and even strikes across the country. more
    • 13/14 May

      1990

      Under the greatest secrecy, the chancellor's adviser, Horst Teltschik, flies to Moscow with the bankers Hilmar Kopper (Deutsche Bank) and Wolfgang Röller (Dresdner Bank) to negotiate on granting a five-billion-mark loan to the Soviet Union. more
    • 16 May

      1990

      To finance the unification, the federal and state governments agree in Bonn to create a “German Unity” fund. It contains 115 billion DM, of which 95 billion is to be borrowed on the credit market and 20 billion are to be taken from the federal budget.
    • 18 May

      1990

      The treaty between the FRG and the GDR is signed in Palais Schaumburg in Bonn, 18 May 1990
      In Bonn, finance ministers Theo Waigel and Walter Romberg sign an agreement on the creation of a monetary, economic and social union. West German Chancellor Helmut Kohl calls the signing the “birth of the free and unified Germany”. more
    • 22 May

      1990

      The Soviet embassy in Bonn is given a letter from Helmut Kohl to Mikhail Gorbachev in which the chancellor says West Germany is ready to grant a 5-billion-DM loan – tied to expectations of constructive solutions in the two-plus-four process.
    • 28 May

      1990

      Customs officials, border guards, and above all the GDR People's Police are suffering under their loss of respect and authority. The period between the collapse of the Wall on 9 November 1989 and the establishment of German unity on 3 October 1990 will later be referred to as “the short year of anarchy.”
    • 29 May

      1990

      The two German governments hold preliminary talks in which they exchange their views on a unification treaty. The negotiations are led by Interior Minister Wolfgang Schäuble for West Germany and State Secretary Günther Krause for the GDR.
    • 30 May

      1990

      Party and state leader Mikhail Gorbachev starts a trip to the United States. At his talks in Washington and Camp David with US President George Bush the following day, Gorbachev surprisingly agrees with Bush that all states have the right, according to the Helsinki Accords, to choose freely what alliance they want to belong to. more
    • 30 May

      1990

      The GDR Council of Ministers decides that all street crossings in Berlin interrupted by the Wall are to be opened as of 1 July as far as is possible, and that no border controls are to be carried out any more. Construction companies from West Germany are to be asked to help pull down the Wall and restore street connections through the former “death strip” free of charge.
    • 31 May

      1990

      The Volkskammer decides to audit and put into trust assets belonging to parties and mass organisations of the GDR and prepare a legal procedure for their further use. more
    • May 1990

      In May, 19,217 GDR citizens move to West Germany.
  • June 
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