This article does not cite any references or sources. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (August 2008)

Wilhelm Pieck
State President of the German Democratic Republic
In office 11 October 1949 – 7 September 1960
Preceded by	Karl Dönitz (Third Reich) Allied military occupation 1945-1949
Succeeded by	Walter Ulbricht (as Chairman of the Council of State)
Born	3 January 1876(1876-01-03) Guben, German Empire
Died	7 September 1960 (aged 84) East Berlin, East Germany
Nationality	German
Political party	SPD, KPD, SED

Friedrich Wilhelm Reinhold Pieck (3 January 1876 – 7 September 1960) was a German politician and a Communist. In 1949 he became the first President of the German Democratic Republic, an office abolished upon his death. He was succeeded by Walter Ulbricht, who served as Chairman of the Council of States.

[edit] Biography

Wilhelm Pieck was born to a coachman in the eastern part of Guben, Germany, which is now Gubin and part of Poland. While he initially went to school to become a carpenter, the combination of world events, determined ideology, and political ambition led Pieck to a life of political activism.

As a carpenter, in 1894 Pieck joined the wood-workers' federation, which steered him towards joining the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD) the following year. Pieck became the chairman of the party urban district in 1899, and in 1906 became full-time secretary of the SPD. Although the majority of the SPD supported the German government in World War I, Pieck was a member of the party's left wing, which opposed the war. Pieck's openness in doing so led to his arrest and placement in a military prison. After being released, Pieck briefly lived in Amsterdam. Upon his return to Berlin in 1918, Pieck joined the newly-founded Communist Party of Germany (KPD).

1951 East German stamp commemorative of the Treaty of Zgorzelec establishing the Oder-Neisse line as a “border of peace”, featuring the presidents Wilhelm Pieck and Bolesław Bierut (Poland) shaking hands

Following the Nazi Party's takeover in 1933, Pieck left Germany for France that same year, then moved to Moscow in 1935. In Moscow, Pieck served the Communist Party in a variety of capacities. From 1938 until 1943, he filled the position of General Secretary of the Communist International. In 1943 Pieck was among the founders of the National Committee for a Free Germany (NKFD). The NKFD planned for the future of Germany after World War II. At the conclusion of the war in 1945 Pieck returned to Germany with the victorious Red Army.

In 1949 Pieck was elected President of the newly-established German Democratic Republic (GDR). Pieck served as the only president of the GDR until his death in 1960. Pieck maintained his posts in politics due to Stalin's trust in him.

Pieck lived in Majakowskiring 29, Pankow, East Berlin. His daughter, Elly Winter (1898-1987), held various posts in the SED and East German government.

Pieck in 1926

Pieck (left) and Otto Grotewohl in 1949

v • d • e Heads of State of the German Democratic Republic Wilhelm Pieck · Walter Ulbricht · Friedrich Ebert (acting) · Willi Stoph · Erich Honecker · Egon Krenz · Manfred Gerlach · Sabine Bergmann-Pohl