Wilhelm Pieck
| Wilhelm Pieck | |
|---|---|
 |
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| President of the German Democratic Republic (East Germany) |
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In office 11 October 1949 – 7 September 1960 |
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| Preceded by | None (office created) |
| Succeeded by |
State Council of the German Democratic Republic (Effectively by Walter Ulbricht as its chairman) |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
Friedrich Wilhelm Reinhold Pieck 3 January 1876 Guben, German Empire |
| Died | 7 September 1960 (aged 84) East Berlin, East Germany |
| Nationality | German |
| Political party |
SPD (1895–1918) KPD (1918–1946) SED (1946–1960) |
Friedrich Wilhelm Reinhold Pieck (German pronunciation: [ˈvɪlhɛlm ˈpiːk]; 3 January 1876 – 7 September 1960) was a German politician and Communist. In 1949, he became the first President of the German Democratic Republic, an office abolished upon his death. His successor as head of state was Walter Ulbricht, who served as chairman of the Council of State.
Pieck was born the son of a coachman in the eastern part of Guben, Germany, which is now Gubin, Poland. While he initially trained to become a carpenter, a 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. As Bremen Party secretary in 1916, Pieck had asked Anton Pannekoek to continue teaching socialist theory in the party school. 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 detention in a military prison. After being released, Pieck briefly lived in exile in Amsterdam. Upon his return to Berlin in 1918, Pieck joined the newly founded Communist Party of Germany (KPD). On January 16, 1919 Pieck, along with Rosa Luxemburg and Karl Liebknecht were arrested, Liebknecht and Luxemburg were then murdered while "being taken to prison" by a unit of Freikorps. While the two were being murdered, Pieck managed to escape. In 1922, he became a founding member of the International Red Aid, serving first on the executive committee. In May 1925, he became the chairman of the Rote Hilfe.
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