Die Linke: the legacy of the GDR
Die Linke is the democratic successor to the former Socialist Unity Party in the GDR, the SED. The BSW was founded as a breakaway group from Die Linke in 2024.
Here we introduce you to the German political parties that are represented in the Bundestag. In Germany, parties only win seats in parliament if they obtain five percent or more of the votes.
The party:
Die Linke
Die Linke party
Established:
2007
Members:
50,000
MPs in the Bundestag:
28 of 733 MPs in total
Historic figures:
Gregor Gysi, former Chairman of the SED and its successor party, the PDS
Bodo Ramelow, Premier of Thuringia, first and only head of government for Die Linke
Profile: Die Linke (i.e. the Left) was formed in 2007 from the merger of the PDS – the democratic successor to the East German party SED – and the left-wing SPD breakaway group WASG. It traditionally tends to achieve its best election results in the new federal states. Some members of the party are monitored by the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution on suspicion of left-wing extremist tendencies that violate the free democratic order. Advocating democratic socialism, Die Linke wants to leave NATO and fundamentally change the EU. The Sahra Wagenknecht Alliance (BSW) was founded as a breakaway group from Die Linke.
Website: www.die-linke.de
Links to portraits of other political parties:
CDU/CSU , SPD, Greens, FDP, AfD
