Democratic People's Party (Demokratische Volkspartei, DVP) was the name of two liberal parties in southern Germany. It is not to be confused with the Deutsche Volkspartei of 1918 which used the same abbreviation DVP.

In 1863-1866 a Demokratische Volkspartei or Württembergische Volkspartei established in the Kingdom of Württemberg

Kingdom of Württemberg

The Kingdom of Württemberg was a state that existed from 1806 to 1918, located in present-day Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It was a continuation of the Duchy of Württemberg, which came into existence in 1495...

, a more left liberal party descending from the German Progress Party

German Progress Party

The German Progress Party was the first modern political party with a program in Germany, founded by the liberal members of the Prussian Lower House in 6 June, 1861....

 of 1861. It became the Deutsche Volkspartei (German People's Party

German People's Party (1868)

The German People's Party was a German liberal party created in 1868 by the wing of the German Progress Party which during the conflict about whether the Unification of Germany should be led by the Kingdom of Prussia or Austria-Hungary supported Austria.The party was most popular in Southern Germany...

) for the regions of Southern Germany in 1868. In 1910 this party merged with two similar parties to the Progressive People's Party

Progressive People's Party (Germany)

The Progressive People's Party was a liberal party of late Imperial Germany. It was formed in 6 March, 1910 as a merger of Freeminded People's Party, Freeminded Union, and German People's Party in order to unify the various liberal groups represented in parliament...

, Fortschrittliche Volkspartei. In 1918 it became the German Democratic Party, dissolved in 1933.

After Second World War liberals in the State of Württemberg-Baden

Württemberg-Baden

Württemberg-Baden is a former state of Federal Republic of Germany. It was created in 1945 by the U.S. occupation forces, after the previous states of Baden and Württemberg had been split up between the US and French occupation zones. Its capital was Stuttgart...

 refounded a party with the name Demokratische Volkspartei. In 1948 it joined with other state parties in the Free Democratic Party

Free Democratic Party (Germany)

The Free Democratic Party , abbreviated to FDP, is a centre-right classical liberal political party in Germany. It is led by Philipp Rösler and currently serves as the junior coalition partner to the Union in the German federal government...

. For historical reasons the state party in Baden-Württemberg

Baden-Württemberg

Baden-Württemberg is one of the 16 states of Germany. Baden-Württemberg is in the southwestern part of the country to the east of the Upper Rhine, and is the third largest in both area and population of Germany's sixteen states, with an area of and 10.7 million inhabitants...

still uses the old name together with the national name (FDP/DVP).