Origins in the environmental movement The party's origins lay in the GDR environmental movement of the 1980s, where local groups formed in response to severe pollution and ecological damage and often operated under church umbrellas. Environmental activism initially overlapped closely with peace and human-rights campaigning, before increasingly developing its own organisational structures and priorities later in the decade.
From Arche to party formation (1988–1990) The
Green–Ecological Network Arche was founded in January 1988 and became a major organising nucleus for a later party structure. Debates within the environmental scene over centralisation and party-building delayed a formal foundation, so that other opposition parties and movements were founded earlier during autumn 1989. The Green Party was constituted on 24 November 1989, and formally founded at its first party congress in Halle on 9 February 1990.
Political participation in 1990 In late 1989 and early 1990 the party participated in the Round Table process and took part in the transitional arrangements of the final GDR governments, including representation in the
Modrow cabinet period through a minister without portfolio associated with the green camp. After the March 1990 Volkskammer election, the Green Party's eight deputies formed a joint parliamentary group with
Bündnis 90, reflecting the practical need to organise parliamentary work and align with related citizens’ movements.
German reunification and merger (1990) Following German reunification, coordination between East German civic movements and West German parties became central to electoral strategy and organisational survival. In September 1990 the party adopted the name “The Greens”, and on 3 December 1990 it merged with the West German Greens (with the Saxon branch initially remaining outside the merger). ==See also==