East Germany's last communist leader dies at 95

Hans Modrow, who served as East Germany’s last communist leader during a turbulent tenure that ended in the country’s first and only free election, has died

Hans Modrow, who served as East Germany's last communist leader during a turbulent tenure that ended in the country's first and only free election, has died. He was 95.

Modrow died early Saturday, the Left party parliamentary group tweeted.

Modrow, a reform-minded communist, took over East Germany shortly after the Berlin Wall fell and later invited opposition forces into the government, but could not slow the gathering momentum for German reunification.

“The entire peaceful course of establishing German unity was precisely a special achievement of his,” the Left wrote on Twitter. “That will remain his political legacy.”

During 16 years as communist party chief in Dresden, starting in 1973, Modrow built a reputation as an anti-establishment figure. He rejected party perks and insisted on living in a normal apartment.

A post in East Germany's top leadership eluded him until he was made prime minister, a position that previously carried little clout, in November 1989 — days after the fall of the Berlin Wall.

When hard-line leader Egon Krenz and his ruling Politburo resigned in early December, Modrow emerged as East Germany's top political figure. But the communists could no longer call the shots on their own. The following month, he agreed to share power with the increasingly vocal opposition and moved up East Germany's landmark first free election to March 1990, amid growing unrest.