Reinhard Höppner

Reinhard Höppner (2 December 1948 – 9 June 2014) was a German politician (SPD).[1] and writer.[2]

Reinhard Höppner
Minister President of Saxony-Anhalt
In office 21 June 1994 – 16 May 2002
Deputy	Heidrun Heidecke Gerlinde Kuppe
Preceded by	Christoph Bergner
Succeeded by	Wolfgang Böhmer
Personal details
Born	2 December 1948 Haldensleben, Saxony-Anhalt, East Germany
Died	9 June 2014 (aged 65) Magdeburg, Saxony-Anhalt, Germany
Political party	SDP (1989–1990) SPD (1990–2014)
Spouse(s)	Renate Höppner
Children	3
Parents	Franz Höppner
Alma mater	Dresden University of Technology

In 1990, in the first (and last) free election in the assembly's history, he was elected a member of the East German People's Chamber (Volkskammer), becoming the assembly's vice president.[2]

He became the 4th Minister President of Saxony-Anhalt in July 1994[1][3] when, his SPD (party) having failed to secure an outright majority, entered into a minority governing coalition with the Green party.[3] This was controversial at the time because most had expected that the SPD, if denied an overall majority, would govern in coalition with the PDS, successor to the old East German ruling party: together the SPD and PDS would have had an overall majority.[3] The so-called Magdeburg model for a minority SPD/Green coalition that excluded the PDS but nevertheless was tolerated (not voted down) by them was subsequently followed in other regional assemblies.[3] Höppner remained in office until 16 May 2002, when he was succeeded by Wolfgang Böhmer.[4][5]

References

1. "Reinhard Hoppner". Random House, Inc. Retrieved 23 January 2010.
2. Helmut Müller-Enbergs. "Höppner, Reinhard * 2.12.1948, † 9.6.2014 Vizepräsident der Volkskammer, Ministerpräsident von Sachsen-Anhalt". Bundesstiftung zur Aufarbeitung der SED-Diktatur: Biographische Datenbanken. Retrieved 25 November 2014.
3. mak/dpa (9 June 2014). "Sachsen-Anhalt: Der ehemalige SPD-Ministerpräsident von Sachsen-Anhalt, Reinhard Höppner, ist in der Nacht zum Montag gestorben. Er erlag einer schweren Krankheit". Der Spiegel (online). Retrieved 25 November 2014.
4. Wolfgang Böhmer. "wolfgang böhmer". Archived from the original on 11 January 2010. Retrieved 23 January 2010.
5. von Matthias Meisner. "SPD-Politiker Reinhard Höppner ist tot" (in German). Tagesspiegel.de. Retrieved 2014-06-09.