Reinhard Höppner

Reinhard Höppner
Minister-President of Saxony-Anhalt
In office 21 July 1994 – 16 May 2002
Deputy	Heidrun Heidecke Gerlinde Kuppe
Preceded by	Christoph Bergner
Succeeded by	Wolfgang Böhmer
Member of the Landtag of Saxony-Anhalt
In office 16 May 2002 – 23 April 2006
Preceded by	multi-member district
Succeeded by	multi-member district
Constituency	Social Democratic Party List
In office 28 October 1990 – 16 May 2002
Preceded by	Constituency established
Succeeded by	Gerhard Ruden
Constituency	Magdeburg II
Wende politically career (1990) Vice President of the Volkskammer (on proposal of the SPD) In office 5 April 1990 – 2 October 1990 Preceded by Position established Succeeded by Position abolished Member of the Volkskammer for Magdeburg In office 5 April 1990 – 2 October 1990 Preceded by Constituency established Succeeded by Constituency abolished
Personal details
Born	(1948-12-02)2 December 1948 Haldensleben, Saxony-Anhalt, Soviet occupation zone (now Germany)
Died	9 June 2014(2014-06-09) (aged 65) Magdeburg, Saxony-Anhalt, Germany
Cause of death	Cancer
Political party	Social Democratic Party (1990–2014)
Other political affiliations	Social Democratic Party in the GDR (1989–1990)
Spouse	Renate Höppner
Children	3
Parent	Franz Höppner
Residence	Magdeburg
Alma mater	Technische Universität Dresden (Dr. rer. nat.)
Occupation	Politician Mathematician Author Academic

Reinhard Höppner (2 December 1948 – 9 June 2014) was a German politician (SPD) and writer.

Höppner held a Dr. rer. nat. in mathematics.

In 1990, in the first (and last) free election in the assembly's history, he was elected a member of the East German People's Chamber (Volkskammer), becoming the assembly's vice president.

He became the 4th Minister President of Saxony-Anhalt in July 1994 when, his SPD (party) having failed to secure an outright majority, entered into a minority governing coalition with the Green party. This was controversial at the time because most had expected that the SPD, if denied an overall majority, would govern in coalition with the PDS, successor to the old East German ruling party: together the SPD and PDS would have had an overall majority. The so-called Magdeburg model for a minority SPD/Green coalition that excluded the PDS but nevertheless was tolerated (not voted down) by them was subsequently followed in other regional assemblies. Höppner remained in office until 16 May 2002, when he was succeeded by Wolfgang Böhmer.