Merger of the KPD and SPD

Treaty on the unification of the KPD and SPD into the Socialist Unity Party of Germany

Pieck and Grotewohl shake hands during the unification ceremony
Type	Unification treaty
Context	Merger of the KPD and SPD into the Socialist Unity Party of Germany
Signed	21 April 1946; 78 years ago (1946-04-21)
Location	Admiralspalast, Berlin, Soviet occupation zone
Signatories	Wilhelm Pieck (Chairman of the KPD) Otto Grotewohl (Chairman of the SPD)
Parties	Communist Party of Germany (KPD) Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD)
Languages	German

The Communist Party of Germany (KPD) and the east German branches of the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD) merged to form the Socialist Unity Party of Germany (SED) on 21 April 1946. Although nominally a merger of equals, the merged party quickly fell under Communist domination and developed along lines similar to other Communist Parties in what became the Eastern Bloc. The SED would be the only party of the German Democratic Republic until the end of the republic in December 1989. In the course of the merger, about 5,000 Social Democrats who opposed it were detained and sent to labour camps and jails.^[1]