What was the name of the communist party that ruled East Germany when the Berlin Wall fell?

The communist party that ruled East Germany when the Berlin Wall fell was the Socialist Unity Party of Germany, commonly abbreviated SED. Its German name was Sozialistische Einheitspartei Deutschlands.

The SED was founded in 1946 in the Soviet occupation zone through the merger of the eastern branches of the Communist Party of Germany and the Social Democratic Party. Although presented as a socialist unity, the merger took place under strong Soviet pressure, and Communist influence soon dominated the new party.

When the German Democratic Republic was established in 1949, the SED became the ruling force in its one-party Marxist-Leninist political system. Other parties existed within the National Front, but they did not offer genuine competition. Party leaders such as Walter Ulbricht and Erich Honecker shaped East Germany’s government and society.

A common mix-up is to answer “Communist Party,” which describes the SED’s ideology but not its official name. The Wall opened on 9 November 1989 after a confused announcement by SED official Günter Schabowski. The party’s political monopoly formally ended weeks later, and the SED soon renamed itself and underwent major restructuring.