By Chung Min-uck
Lothar de Maiziere is a German politician and lawyer who served as the first and the only democratically elected prime minister of East Germany.
Born on March 2, 1940, in Nordahusen, in the state of Thuringia, Germany, he studied viola at Hanns Eisler College of Music in East Berlin from 1959 to 1965 and was in the Berlin Symphony Orchestra until leaving to follow in the footsteps of his father who was a lawyer.
He studied law at Humboldt University of Berlin from 1969 to 1975 and started his career as a lawyer the following year.
In November 1989, De Maiziere was elected chairman of East German Christian Democratic Union (CDU) and was also appointed as minister responsible for religious affairs in Hans Modrow’s interim administration.
He was elected to the Volkskammer (People’s Chamber) in East Germany’s first election in March 1990, as a member of the East German CDU.
A month later, he succeeded Han Modrow as prime minister and held the position from April 12 to Oct. 2, 1990, one day before the reunification of Germany.
As prime minister, he signed a “2+4” treaty on Sept. 12, 1990, which paved the way for reunification, renouncing all rights the four wartime powers formerly had in Germany.
After achieving reunification, De Maiziere served as minister for special assignments in the government of Helmut Kohl until his resignation in Dec. 12, 1990.
In June 2001, he received an honorary doctoral degree in political science from Hanyang University, Seoul, for his achievements.
He was recently appointed as an advisor for the South Korea-German Consultation Committee on National Unification, a newly launched advisory committee established for South Korea to learn from Germany’s experience of reunification.