Die 10. Volkskammer der DDR. Ein Parlament im Umbruch. Selbstwahrnehmung, Selbstparlamentarisierung, Selbstauflösung / The 10^th Volkskammer of the GDR. A Parliament in Upheaval. Self-Perception, Self-Parliamentarisation, Self-Dissolution

The 10^th Volkskammer of the GDR was a unique and unusual parliament. In spring 1990, the first and, at the same time, the last freely elected parliament of the GDR contributed to the reunification of the two German states that had been facing each other for more than four decades during the Cold War. This task had to be accomplished by parliamentary representatives who had no experience of the working methods and processes of the parliamentary system.

The book investigates the learning curve of the new parliamentarians, also building upon video footage of the plenary sessions of the Volkskammer broadcasted live by GDR television. – How did the Volkskammer members envisage their task and what was their point of reference? How did they present themselves in public, how did they speak and how did their work in the plenary and in the parliamentary groups proceed?