President of East Germany

President of the German Democratic Republic
Standard of the president (1955–1960)
Schönhausen Palace at Niederschönhausen in Pankow, Berlin.
Residence	Majakowskiring 29, Pankow, East Berlin
Seat	Schönhausen Palace, Pankow, East Berlin
Appointer	People's Chamber Chamber of States
Precursor	The Reichspräsident
Formation	11 October 1949
First holder	Wilhelm Pieck
Final holder	Wilhelm Pieck
Abolished	7 September 1960
Superseded by	State Council of East Germany
Deputy	President of the People's Chamber

Politics of East Germany
Constitution 1949 1968
Leadership Socialist Unity Party General Secretary President (1949–1960) State Council (1960–1990) Head of State Council of Ministers Head of Government
Legislature President Chamber of States
Elections Referendums Constitutional Assembly 1949 General elections 1950 1954 1958 1963 1967 1971 1976 1981 1986 1990 Referendums 1951 1954 1968
Political parties Christian Democratic Union Democratic Farmers' Party Liberal Democratic Party National Democratic Party
Administrative divisions East Berlin (independent) Cottbus Dresden Erfurt Frankfurt Gera Halle Karl-Marx-Stadt Leipzig Magdeburg Neubrandenburg Potsdam Rostock Schwerin Suhl Leaders
Other countries
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The president of the German Democratic Republic (German: Präsident der Deutschen Demokratischen Republik) was the head of state of the German Democratic Republic, commonly known as East Germany, from 1949 until 1960.^[1] The office was created by the Constitution of 1949 (Section V). The president of the Republic was elected by the People's Chamber (Volkskammer) and the Chamber of States (Länderkammer), the two chambers of parliament. The office was mostly ceremonial in nature. If necessary, the President of the Volkskammer acted as the president of the Republic.

The sole incumbent was Wilhelm Pieck of the Socialist Unity Party of Germany (SED), elected on 11 October 1949^[2] and re-elected in 1953 and in 1957. Shortly after the death of Pieck on 7 September 1960, the Constitution was amended. The Law concerning the formation of the State Council of 12 September 1960 introduced a collective head of state instead of the presidency, the State Council of East Germany. In the last, pro-Western phase of East Germany in 1989/90, the State Council was abolished; President of the People's Chamber Sabine Bergmann-Pohl acted as interim head of state.