List of presidents of Germany
A number of presidential offices have existed in Germany since the collapse of the German Empire in 1918.
The Weimar Constitution of August 1919 created the office of President of Germany. Upon the death of Paul von Hindenburg in August 1934 the office was left vacant, with Adolf Hitler becoming head of state as Führer und Reichskanzler. In April–May 1945, Karl Dönitz briefly became President upon the suicide of Hitler.
The Basic Law for the Federal Republic of Germany of May 1949 created the office of President of the Federal Republic of Germany. From German reunification in 1990, the President has been the head of state for all of Germany.
The East German constitution of October 1949 created the office of President of the German Democratic Republic. Upon the death of Wilhelm Pieck in 1960, the office of Präsident der DDR was abolished and replaced by a collective head of state, the Staatsrat. The Staatsrat was abolished by a constitutional amendment of the Volkskammer on 5 April 1990. From then until the GDR joined the Federal Republic on 3 October 1990, the president of the Volkskammer also served as the GDR head of state.† denotes people who died in office.† denotes people who died in office.German Democratic Republic">East Germany">German Democratic Republic (1949–1990)
† denotes people who died in office.Chairman of the State Council (''Vorsitzender des Staatsrats">State Council of East Germany">Staatsrats'')
† denotes people who died in office.
