Otto Grotewohl

This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. Find sources: "Otto Grotewohl" – news · newspapers · books · scholar · JSTOR (May 2014) (Learn how and when to remove this message)

Otto Grotewohl
Grotewohl in 1964
Chairman of the Council of Ministers[a]
In office 12 October 1949 – 21 September 1964[b]
First Deputy	Walter Ulbricht Willi Stoph
Preceded by	Position established
Succeeded by	Willi Stoph
Chairman of the Socialist Unity Party
In office 22 April 1946 – 25 July 1950 Serving with Wilhelm Pieck
Deputy	Walter Ulbricht Max Fechner
Preceded by	himself (as Co-Chairman of the Central Committee of the SPD)
Succeeded by	Walter Ulbricht (as General Secretary)
Chairman of the Central Committee of the SPD
In office 15 June 1945 – 22 April 1946 Serving with Erich Gniffke, Max Fechner
Preceded by	Hans Vogel (as Chairman of the Sopade)
Succeeded by	himself (as Co-Chairman of the Socialist Unity Party)
Free State of Brunswick Government Minister of Justice In office 13 February 1923 – 24 December 1924 Minister-President Heinrich Jasper Preceded by Ewald Vogtherr Succeeded by Johannes Lieff In office 28 March 1922 – 23 May 1922 Minister-President Otto Antrick Preceded by August Junke Succeeded by Heinrich Jasper (acting) Minister of Public Education In office 25 November 1920 – 23 May 1922 Minister-President Sepp Oerter August Junke Otto Antrick Preceded by Sepp Oerter (acting) Succeeded by Rudolf Kaefer
Parliamentary constituencies Member of the Volkskammer for Berlin In office 18 March 1948 – 21 September 1964 Preceded by Constituency established Succeeded by Eberhard Alff (1965) Member of the Reichstag for South Hanover–Braunschweig In office 31 October 1925 – 22 June 1933 Preceded by Elise Bartels Succeeded by Constituency abolished Member of the Landtag of the Free State of Brunswick In office 22 June 1920 – 1926 Preceded by multi-member district Succeeded by Robert Oppermann
Personal details
Born	Otto Emil Franz Grotewohl (1894-03-11)11 March 1894 Braunschweig, Duchy of Braunschweig, German Empire (now Lower Saxony, Germany)
Died	21 September 1964(1964-09-21) (aged 70) East Berlin, East Germany
Political party	Socialist Unity Party (1946–1964)
Other political affiliations	Social Democratic Party (1912–1918; 1922–1946) Independent Social Democratic Party (1918–1922)
Spouse	Marie Martha Louise
Children	2
Occupation	Politician Printer
Military service
Allegiance	German Empire
Branch/service	Army
Unit	137th Infantry Regiment
Battles/wars	World War I
Central institution membership 1949–1964: Full member, Politburo of the Central Committee 1946–1964: Full member, Central Committee[note 1] Other offices held 1960–1964: Deputy Chairman, State Council 1960–1964: Member, State Council 1960–1964: Member, National Defence Council

Otto Emil Franz Grotewohl (German pronunciation: [ˈɔtoː ˈɡʁoːtəvoːl]; 11 March 1894 – 21 September 1964) was a German politician who served as the first prime minister of the German Democratic Republic (GDR/East Germany) from its foundation in October 1949 until his death in September 1964.

Grotewohl was a Social Democratic Party (SPD) politician in the Free State of Brunswick during the Weimar Republic and leader of the party branch in the Soviet Occupation Zone after World War II. Grotewohl led the SPD's merger with the Communist Party (KPD) to form the Socialist Unity Party of Germany (SED) in 1946 and served as co-chairman of the party with KPD leader Wilhelm Pieck until 1950. Grotewohl chaired the Council of Ministers after the establishment of the GDR in 1949 and served as the de jure head of government under First Secretary Walter Ulbricht until his death in 1964.

Cite error: There are <ref group=lower-alpha> tags or {{efn}} templates on this page, but the references will not show without a {{reflist|group=lower-alpha}} template or {{notelist}} template (see the help page).
Cite error: There are <ref group=note> tags on this page, but the references will not show without a {{reflist|group=note}} template (see the help page).