Editing Free Democratic Party (Germany) (section)

=== Founding of the party ===
[[File:Bundesarchiv Bild 146-1983-098-20a, Heuss.jpg|thumb|upright|Theodor Heuss, first chairman of the FDP and first President of West Germany]]

The Free Democratic Party was established on 11–12 December 1948 in [[Heppenheim]], in [[Hesse]], as an association of all 13 liberal state parties in the three Western zones of occupation.<ref group="Note">These regionally organised liberal parties were the ''Bremian Democratic People's Party'' (BDV) in the [[Bremen (state)|state of Bremen]], the ''Democratic Party of Southern and Middle Baden'' (DemP) in the [[South Baden|State of South Baden]], the ''Democratic Party'' (DP) in the [[Rhineland-Palatinate|State of Rhineland-Palatinate]], the [[Democratic People's Party (Germany)|Democratic People's Party of Northern Württemberg-Northern Baden]] (DVP) in the [[Württemberg-Baden|State of Württemberg-Baden]], the [[Democratic People's Party (Germany)|Democratic People's Party of Southern Württemberg-Hohenzollern]] (DVP) in the [[Württemberg-Hohenzollern|State of Württemberg-Hohenzollern]], the united ''Free Democratic Party'' (F.D.P.) of the British zone of occupation (consisting of five state associations), the ''Free Democratic Party'' (F.D.P.) in the [[Free State of Bavaria]], the ''Liberal Democratic Party'' (LDP) in the [[State of Hesse]], and the ''Liberal Democratic Party'' (LDP) of [[West Berlin]]. Cf. Almut Leh and Alexander von Plato, ''Ein unglaublicher Frühling: erfahrene Geschichte im Nachkriegsdeutschland 1945–1948'', Bundeszentrale für Politische Bildung (ed.), Bonn: Bundeszentrale für Politische Bildung, 1997, p. 77. {{ISBN|3-89331-298-6}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url= http://www.freiheit.org/files/288/1948_Heppenheimer_Proklamation.pdf|title= Heppenheimer Proklamation der Freien Demokratischen Partei|trans-title= Heppenheim Proclamation of the Free Democratic Party|date= 12 December 1948|access-date= 12 November 2013|url-status= dead|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20150903224113/http://www.freiheit.org/files/288/1948_Heppenheimer_Proklamation.pdf|archive-date= 3 September 2015}}</ref> As such, the party included former members of the pre-1933 [[German People's Party]] (DVP) which represented the more [[Conservative liberalism|conservative]] and [[National liberalism|national]] tradition of [[Liberalism in Germany|German liberalism]] and members from the [[Social liberalism|social liberal]] [[German Democratic Party]] (DDP). The proposed name, Liberal Democratic Party, was rejected by the delegates, who voted 64 to 25 in favour of the name Free Democratic Party (FDP).

The party's first chairman was Theodor Heuss, a member of the Democratic People's Party in Württemberg-Baden; his deputy was [[Franz Blücher]] of the FDP in the British Zone. The place for the party's foundation was chosen deliberately: the "[[Heppenheim conference|Heppenheim Assembly]]" was held at the Hotel ''Halber Mond'' on 10 October 1847, a meeting of moderate liberals who were preparing for what would be, within a few months, the [[German revolutions of 1848–1849]].