Gerhard Riege

Gerhard Riege (23 May 1930 - 15 February 1992) was a respected East German law professor.

On 18 March 1990 East Germany held the first truly free election in that part of Germany since 1932. Riege had accepted nomination as a list candidate for the electoral district of Thuringia, and was elected to the East German Volkskammer (''national parliament''). On 3 October 1990 he was one of 144 nominated Volkskammer members who moved across to the enlarged German Bundestag (''national parliament'') following reunification. He was then elected to the Bundestag in the December general election later that year.

The media soul-searching, which found a focus deep inside the political class, and which followed Gerhard Riege's suicide, reflected many enduring dilemmas and discomfitures that have followed in the wake of reunification. Provided by Wikipedia