Neues Forum (New Forum)
The opposition alliance was founded in September 1989 in the former GDR and had a major influence on the political upheaval. Its acceptance as a political group by the leadership of the SED on 8/11/1989 became a precedent. The exposed founding members of the Neues Forum (New Forum) were investigated very thoroughly and pressurised extensively by the State Security Service. The first signatories included Bärbel Bohley, Rolf Henrich, Ingrid Keppe, Sebastian Pflugbeil, Jens Reich, Reinhard Schult, Ina Seidel, and many more.
The Neues Forum (New Forum) worked on the basis of a basic democracy and consciously did not organise itself as a party. By the end of 1989 around 200.000 people had signed the founding call, the number of full members was approx. 10.000. In February 1990, during the preparations for the elections, the Neue Forum (New Forum) formed the Bündnis 90 with the opposition movements Demokratie Jetzt (DJ) and Initiative für Frieden und Menschenrechte (IFM). The alliance gained 2.9% at the elections to the People's Chamber on 18/3/1990. Before the Federal election in December 1990, Bündnis 90 formed a list coalition with the Green Party (East). In 1993 this alliance joined with the Grünen(West) to form the party Bündnis 90/Die Grünen.
