Since 1949 the party is under control of the communist dictatorship 1990: The LDPD regained its liberal profile and shortened its name in February into Liberal Democratic Party (Liberal-Demokratische Partei). The same month it joined the newly founded Free Democratic Party (GDR) (Freie Demokratische Partei (DDR)) and the German Forum Party (Deutsche Forumpartei) into Association of Free Democrats (Bund Freier Demokraten). In March the Association of Free Democrats absorbed the National Democratic Party of Germany (Nationaldemokratische Partei Deutschlands), and finally in August it merged into present-day ⇒ Free Democratic Party