{"id":"walter-ulbricht","type":"person","url":"https://diginpl.com/people/walter-ulbricht","language":"en","name":"Walter Ulbricht","name_en":"Walter Ulbricht","name_ne":null,"description":"German communist politician and dictator (1893–1973)","headline":"German communist politician and dictator (1893–1973)","also_known_as":[],"summary":"Walter Ernst Paul Ulbricht was a German communist politician. Ulbricht played a leading role in the creation of the Weimar-era Communist Party of Germany (KPD) and later in the early development and establishment of the German Democratic Republic. As the First Secretary of the Communist Socialist Unity Party from 1950 to 1971, he was the chief decision-maker in East Germany. From President Wilhelm Pieck's death in 1960, he was also the East German head of state until his own death in 1973. As the leader of a significant Communist satellite, Ulbricht had a degree of bargaining power with the Kremlin that he used effectively. For example, he demanded the building of the Berlin Wall in 1961 when the Kremlin was reluctant.","summary_more":[],"facts":[{"key":"born","label":"Born","values":[{"text":"30 June 1893","date":"1893-06-30"}],"source":{"label":"Wikidata","url":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q2628#P569"}},{"key":"birthplace","label":"Place of birth","values":[{"text":"Leipzig","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q2079"}],"source":{"label":"Wikidata","url":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q2628#P19"}},{"key":"died","label":"Died","values":[{"text":"1 August 1973","date":"1973-08-01"}],"source":{"label":"Wikidata","url":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q2628#P570"}},{"key":"deathplace","label":"Place of death","values":[{"text":"Groß Dölln","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q1547891"}],"source":{"label":"Wikidata","url":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q2628#P20"}},{"key":"citizenship","label":"Citizenship","values":[{"text":"East Germany","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q16957"}],"source":{"label":"Wikidata","url":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q2628#P27"}},{"key":"occupation","label":"Occupation","values":[{"text":"politician","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q82955"},{"text":"resistance fighter","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q1397808"},{"text":"communist","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q28528560"},{"text":"joiner","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q326358"}],"source":{"label":"Wikidata","url":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q2628#P106"}},{"key":"party","label":"Political party","values":[{"text":"National Committee for a Free Germany (1943–1945)","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q700570","start":"1943","end":"1945"},{"text":"Communist Party of Germany (1920–1946)","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q153401","start":"1920","end":"1946"},{"text":"Independent Social Democratic Party of Germany (1917–1920)","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q310296","start":"1917","end":"1920"},{"text":"Social Democratic Party of Germany (1912–1917)","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q49768","start":"1912","end":"1917"}],"source":{"label":"Wikidata","url":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q2628#P102"}},{"key":"education","label":"Education","values":[{"text":"International Lenin School","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q1190355"}],"source":{"label":"Wikidata","url":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q2628#P69"}},{"key":"spouse","label":"Spouse","values":[{"text":"Lotte Ulbricht","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q75163"}],"source":{"label":"Wikidata","url":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q2628#P26"}},{"key":"positions","label":"Positions held","values":[{"text":"Chairman of the State Council (12 September 1960 – 1 August 1973)","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q889294","start":"1960-09-12","end":"1973-08-01"},{"text":"Chairman of the National Defence Council of the GDR (11 February 1960 – 25 June 1971)","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q131786858","start":"1960-02-11","end":"1971-06-25"},{"text":"member of the Landtag of Saxony","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q17334379"},{"text":"member of the Reichstag of the Weimar Republic","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q17850767"},{"text":"member of the Volkskammer","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q18557729"}],"source":{"label":"Wikidata","url":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q2628#P39"}},{"key":"awards","label":"Awards","values":[{"text":"Hero of the Soviet Union","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q178473","date":"1963"},{"text":"Order of Lenin","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q185493"},{"text":"Order of the Red Banner of Labour","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q478850"},{"text":"Order of the Nile","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q1783222"},{"text":"Order of Friendship of Peoples","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q583881"},{"text":"Order of the October Revolution","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q728960","date":"1968"},{"text":"Fritz Heckert Medal","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q1465374"},{"text":"Order of the Patriotic War, 1st class","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q18080149"},{"text":"Order of the Patriotic War, 2nd class","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q18200478"},{"text":"Hero of Labour","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q314806","date":"1953"},{"text":"Patriotic Order of Merit","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q819570"},{"text":"Order of Karl Marx","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q694401"}],"source":{"label":"Wikidata","url":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q2628#P166"}}],"office":null,"sections":[],"cited":[],"cited_from":null,"videos":[],"last_reviewed":null,"organizations":[],"same_as":["https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walter_Ulbricht","https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q2628"],"faq":[{"q":"When was Walter Ulbricht born?","a":"Walter Ulbricht was born on 30 June 1893 in Leipzig."},{"q":"What positions has Walter Ulbricht held?","a":"Positions held by Walter Ulbricht include: Chairman of the State Council (1960–1973); Chairman of the National Defence Council of the GDR (1960–1971); member of the Landtag of Saxony; member of the Reichstag of the Weimar Republic; member of the Volkskammer."},{"q":"Where did Walter Ulbricht study?","a":"Walter Ulbricht was educated at International Lenin School."}],"related":[{"name":"Manfred Gerlach","url":"https://diginpl.com/people/manfred-gerlach"},{"name":"Friedrich Ebert Jr.","url":"https://diginpl.com/people/friedrich-ebert-jr"},{"name":"Willi Stoph","url":"https://diginpl.com/people/willi-stoph"},{"name":"Egon Krenz","url":"https://diginpl.com/people/egon-krenz"},{"name":"Erich Honecker","url":"https://diginpl.com/people/erich-honecker"},{"name":"Petra Köpping","url":"https://diginpl.com/people/petra-kopping"},{"name":"Peter Schowtka","url":"https://diginpl.com/people/peter-schowtka"},{"name":"Matthias Berger","url":"https://diginpl.com/people/matthias-berger"},{"name":"Octavian Ursu","url":"https://diginpl.com/people/octavian-ursu"}],"places_in":[],"nearby":[],"image":{"url":"https://diginpl.com/kb-img/walter-ulbricht-5e7c3c45ea.jpg","width":500,"height":538,"license":"CC BY-SA 3.0 de","credit":"Hans-Joachim Spremberg","page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Bundesarchiv_Bild_183-J1231-1002-002_Walter_Ulbricht,_Neujahrsansprache.jpg"},"sources":[{"label":"Wikipedia (English): Walter Ulbricht","url":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walter_Ulbricht","license":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/"},{"label":"Wikidata item Q2628","url":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q2628","license":"https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/"},{"label":"Image: Bundesarchiv Bild 183-J1231-1002-002 Walter Ulbricht, Neujahrsansprache.jpg by Hans-Joachim Spremberg (CC BY-SA 3.0 de)","url":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Bundesarchiv_Bild_183-J1231-1002-002_Walter_Ulbricht,_Neujahrsansprache.jpg","license":null}],"license":{"text":"CC BY-SA 4.0","url":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/","facts":"https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/"},"attribution":"Text from the Wikipedia article Walter Ulbricht, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. This page's text is shared under the same licence. Facts from Wikidata (CC0). Image: Bundesarchiv Bild 183-J1231-1002-002 Walter Ulbricht, Neujahrsansprache.jpg — Hans-Joachim Spremberg, CC BY-SA 3.0 de.","cite":"\"Walter Ulbricht\". DigiNepal. Last updated 8 November 2026. https://diginpl.com/people/walter-ulbricht. Retrieved 8 November 2026.","date_modified":"2026-11-08T06:58:02Z","facts_checked":"2026-11-08","alternates":{"html":"https://diginpl.com/people/walter-ulbricht","en":"https://diginpl.com/people/walter-ulbricht","ne":null}}