Wilhelm Pieck
|
|
Wilhelm Pieck (January 3, 1876 - September 7, 1960) was a German communist, politician and president of East Germany.
He joined the German Wood Workers' Federation in 1894, and joined the Social Democratic Party of Germany in 1895. He became disillusioned with the party leadership's cooperation with conservative forces during World War I, and was an early member of the Spartacist League, and a founding member of the Communist Party of Germany.
He fled Germany after Adolf Hitler came to power in 1933, and after East Germany was created in 1949, he became its first full-time president, a role he held until his death in Berlin in 1960.
| Preceded by: Johannes Dieckmann | State President of the German Democratic Republic 1949-1960 | Succeeded by: Johannes Dieckmann |