Otto Grotewohl

Otto Emil Franz Grotewohl (German pronunciation: [ˈɔtoː ˈɡʁoːtəvoːl]; 11 March 1894 – 21 September 1964) was a German politician who served as the first prime minister (Chairman of the Council of ministers) of the German Democratic Republic (East Germany) from its founding in October 1949 until his death in September 1964. Grotewohl was a Social Democratic Party (SPD) politician in the Free State of Brunswick during the Weimar Republic and leader of the party branch in the Soviet Occupation Zone after World War II. Grotewohl led the SPD's merger with the Communist Party (KPD) to form the Socialist Unity Party of Germany (SED) in 1946 and served as co-chairman of the party with KPD leader Wilhelm Pieck until 1950. Grotewohl chaired the Council of Ministers after the formal establishment of the GDR in 1949 and served as the de jure head of government under First Secretary Walter Ulbricht until his death in 1964.