People's Chamber
In the general election of March 1990, the only free election ever held in East Germany, she was elected to the People's Chamber, which on 5 April elected her its President. On the same day, parliament also abolished the State Council, the country's collective presidency. Under the Constitution, the president of the People's Chamber was ex officio vice president of the GDR; as such, Bergmann-Pohl assumed the role of head of state as well. In that role, she presided over the People's Chamber formally petitioning to join the Federal Republic of Germany on 23 August, as well as the overwhelming approval of the unification treaty on 12 September.