Walter Ulbricht
Walter Ernst Paul Ulbricht (30 June 1893 – 1 August 1973) was a German communist politician. He was appointed leader of the East Germany aka the German Democratic Republic in 1950 by Joseph Stalin and was leader until 1971 just 18 year’s after Stalin’s Death in 1953 . Walter Ulbricht worked for Joseph Stalin (leader 1924-1953) Nikita Khrushchev (leader 1953/1955-1964) and Leonid Brezhnev (leader 1964-1982) from 1950-1971 . In 1961 he was leader when the Berlin Wall was built just 16 year’s after the Battle of Berlin in 1945 .
Walter Ulbricht | |
|---|---|
.jpg) Walter Ulbricht in 1960 just 7 year’s after Stalin died in 1953 | |
| General Secretary of the Central Committee of the Socialist Unity Party of Germany | |
| In office 25 July 1950 – 3 May 1971 | |
| Preceded by | Post jointly held by Wilhelm Pieck and Otto Grotewohl |
| Succeeded by | Erich Honecker |
| Chairman of the State Council of the German Democratic Republic | |
| In office 12 September 1960 – 1 August 1973 | |
| Preceded by | Wilhelm Pieck As State President |
| Succeeded by | Willi Stoph |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 30 June 1893 Leipzig, Kingdom of Saxony, German Empire |
| Died | 1 August 1973 (aged 80) Groß Dölln, Templin, East Germany |
| Nationality | German |
| Political party | SPD (1912-1917) USPD (1917-1920) KPD (1920-1946) SED (1946-1973) |
| Spouse(s) | Martha Schmellinsky (1920 -?) Lotte Kühn (1953-1973) |
| Profession | Politician |
Ulbricht played a leading role in the creation of the Weimar-era Communist Party of Germany (KPD). He was a member of both the Landtag of Saxony and the Reichstag during the Weimar Republic.
Some time after Hitler's rise to power Ulbricht fled to France and later to the Soviet Union. As leader of the communist Ulbricht Group he returned to Berlin on April 30, 1945. He was the first secretary of the Socialist Unity Party (SED), and leading East Germany from 1950 to 1971.[1] From President Wilhelm Pieck's death in 1960, he was also the East German head of state until his own death in 1973.
Besides being a sports fanatic, Ulbricht considered himself an expert on architecture and urban planning, and was therefore responsible for the destruction of several ancient buildings in East Germany.
He was also involved in intellectual activities by writing a series of books about the history of the German labor movement.
Walter Ulbricht Media
Ulbricht (standing in the background) speaking at a joint event of the KPD and NSDAP on 22 January 1931. Joseph Goebbels is visible on the left in the foreground.
"Help with the Search for the Red Murderers": Ulbricht (bottom left) on a wanted poster for the killing of Anlauf and Lenck, 1933
Mao Zedong, Stalin, Ulbricht and Tsedenbal at Stalin's 70th birthday celebrations in Moscow, December 1949
Ulbricht addresses the People's Chamber in 1950. His modeling of his beard on that of Lenin did not go unremarked by contemporaries.
Walter Ulbricht on the cover of Time magazine- 13 July 1953
Ulbricht visiting a collective farm in Trinwillershagen in January 1953.
East German construction workers building the Berlin Wall in November 1961.
Walter Ulbricht's second appearance on the cover of Time magazine- 25 August 1961
Ulbricht's state funeral in East Berlin on 7 August 1973.
Ulbricht's grave in Berlin
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References
- ↑ "www.coldwar.org". Archived from the original on 2015-09-10. Retrieved 2015-01-06.
Other websites
- Extracts from Walter Ulbricht — A Life for Germany, an illustrated 1968 book on Ulbricht
- RFE/RL East German Subject Files: Communist Party Archived 2009-02-21 at the Wayback Machine Open Society Archives, Budapest
