BERLIN—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 wrote on Twitter.
Modrow took over East Germany shortly after the Berlin Wall fell and later invited opposition forces into the government.
During 16 years as communist party chief in Dresden, starting in 1973, Modrow built a reputation as an anti-establishment figure.
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….