Erich Honecker becomes First Secretary of the Socialist Unity Party of Germany, remaining in power until 1989.

Erich Honecker

Leader of East Germany from 1971 to 1989

Erich Ernst Paul Honecker was a German communist politician who led the German Democratic Republic from 1971 until shortly before the fall of the Berlin Wall in November 1989. He held the posts of General Secretary of the Socialist Unity Party of Germany (SED) and Chairman of…

Lists of political office-holders in East Germany

These are lists of political office-holders in East Germany. The political leadership of East Germany was distributed between several offices. However, until the Volkskammer removed a section in the GDR's constitution guaranteeing their monopoly on political power on 1 December…

May 3

Day of the year

May 3 is the 123rd day of the year in the Gregorian calendar; 242 days remain until the end of the year.