Wilhelm Pieck

Wilhelm Pieck
Pieck in 1946
President of East Germany
In office 11 October 1949 – 7 September 1960
Preceded by	Karl Dönitz (as President of the Reich)
Succeeded by	Walter Ulbricht (as Chairman of the State Council)
Chairman of the Socialist Unity Party
In office 22 April 1946 – 25 July 1950 Serving with Otto Grotewohl
Deputy	Walter Ulbricht Max Fechner
Preceded by	Himself (as Chairman of the KPD)
Succeeded by	Walter Ulbricht (as General Secretary)
Chairman of the Communist Party of Germany
In office 1 February 1934 – 22 April 1946 Acting: 1 February 1934 – 18 August 1944 [note 1]
Preceded by	John Schehr
Succeeded by	Himself (as Co-Chairman of the Socialist Unity Party)
Parliamentary constituencies Member of the Provisional Volkskammer In office 7 October 1949 – 22 February 1950 Preceded by Constituency established Succeeded by Willi Stoph Member of the Reichstag for Berlin In office 1 July 1928 – 28 February 1933 Preceded by Multi-member district Succeeded by Constituency abolished Member of the Landtag of Prussia for Potsdam II In office 25 May 1932 – 31 March 1933 Preceded by Multi-member district Succeeded by Constituency abolished In office 10 March 1921 – 14 June 1928 Preceded by Adolph Hoffmann Succeeded by Erich Raddatz
Personal details
Born	Friedrich Wilhelm Reinhold Pieck (1876-01-03)3 January 1876 Guben, Province of Brandenburg, Kingdom of Prussia, German Empire (now Gubin, Poland)
Died	7 September 1960(1960-09-07) (aged 84) East Berlin, East Germany
Political party	SPD (1895–1917) USPD (1917–1919) KPD (1919–1946) SED (1946–1960)
Other political affiliations	Spartacus League (1914–1919)
Spouse	Christine Häfker ​ ​ (m. 1898; died 1936)​
Children	Elly Winter Arthur Pieck Eleonore Staimer
Occupation	Politician Party Clerk Carpenter
Signature
Central institution membership 1949–1960: Full member, Politburo of the Central Committee 1946–1960: Full member, Central Committee[note 2] 1920–1921; 1926–1937: Full member, KPD Politburo Other offices held 1946–1949: Member, Landtag of Brandenburg 1930–1932: Member, Prussian State Council 1929–1933: Member, Berlin City Council 1906–1910: Member, Bürgerschaft of Bremen

Friedrich Wilhelm Reinhold Pieck (German pronunciation: [ˈvɪlhɛlm ˈpiːk]; 3 January 1876 – 7 September 1960) was a German communist politician who served as the chairman of the Socialist Unity Party from 1946 to 1950 and as the only president of the German Democratic Republic from 1949 until his death in 1960.^[1]

Pieck had been active in the SPD since the 1890s, breaking from the party in 1917 over his opposition to the First World War. He co-founded the Spartacus League and the KPD, rising to become chairman of the latter organization following the imprisonment of Ernst Thälmann and John Schehr by the Nazis. After the end of the Second World War, he played a key role in the 1946 merger of the KPD and SPD into the Socialist Unity Party of Germany, which served as the ruling party of East Germany from 1949 until 1989.^[2]

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