Almuth Berger

Almuth Berger is a German Protestant pastor.

In the 1970s she became a peace activist in the German Democratic Republic. but the Brennecke family remained in what would later become the German Democratic Republic, and Almuth Brennecke grew up in nearby Jerichow on the east side of the river.

Politics In 1987 Almuth Berger took a leading role in creating a working group called "Rejection of the principal and practice of separation" ("Absage an Praxis und Prinzip der Abgrenzung"). They came from the small number of poorer country's with which the country had reasonable diplomatic relations, notably Mozambique, Angola and Vietnam. There had, at government level, never been any policy to integrate the immigrants into the wider community. Their wages and living conditions were bad. In March 1990 the German Democratic Republic held its first (and, as matters turned out, last) free election, in the wake of which the situation of the immigrants suddenly appeared on the government's political agenda.

As a "Democracy Now" leader Almuth Berger participated in the important working group discussions set up under the 1989/1990 Round Table process on immigrant issues (literally "Foreigner questions" / "Ausländerfragen"). Directly after the 1990 General Election she found herself a member of the government headed up by Hans Modrow (and after Modrow's resignation on 12 April 1990, by Lothar de Maizière). The breach of the Berlin Wall in November 1989, and the absence of any subsequent intervention by the Soviet occupation forces, had left the gate open for German reunification, and the new government's job was to prepare for that moment. Berger, although not an elected member of the National Legislature, was given the rank of a Secretary of State, together with responsibility Immigrant ("Foreigner") Issues. She held the national post for only seven months, but she fought for her beliefs and saw to it that the interests of the East German immigrant community were not overlooked in the rush to reunification.

At the start of the twenty-first century the label by which Almuth Berger's governmental areas of responsibility had been defined changed from "Commissioner for Foreigner issues" (...."Ausländerfragen") to "Commissioner for Integration" (...."Integration"). The change was made at different times in different regional governments: in the Berlin senate itself it came about only in 2003. Many current sources continue to apply the former term, "Ausländerfragen". The issues and decisions involved changed even less abruptly than the term used, and the English language term "Immigrant Issues" appears to cover the responsibilities for present purposes. The Reunification Treaty took effect on 3 October 1990, which marked the end of the German Democratic Republic as a separate entity, and thereby put an end to the East German government of which Almuth Berger was a member. However, in 1991 she was appointed "Commissioner for Immigrant Issues "("Integrationsbeauftragterin" / "Ausländerbeauftragterin") in the regional government of Brandenburg. She retained this position for fifteen years, until her retirement in 2006. Although the job in regional politics gave her a lower public profile than the period in national politics, it nevertheless covered a period which she would describe as a continuation of the "most intense and exciting period of her life" (" intensivste und spannendste Zeit ihres Lebens").

Almuth Berger retired to Schmöckwitz (on the southern side of Berlin) in October 2006, but remains actively engaged at a parish and community level.