   otto grotewohl (; 11 march 1894 â 23 september 1964) was a german politician and the first prime minister of the german democratic republic from 1949 until his death in 1964. ==biography== grotewohl was born in the city of braunschweig (which would be part of west germany during the partition) on 11 march 1894 and his father was a master tailor.  following world war i started his political career as a leader of the independent social democratic party of germany (uspd) and minister in the free state of brunswick. in 1922 grotewohl with the majority of the uspd members joined the social democratic party of germany (spd) and from 1925 was a member of the reichstag parliament. dismissed after the nazi machtergreifung in 1933 he was imprisoned several times. thumb|left|21 april 1946: pieck (left) and grotewohl sealing the unification, ulbricht in the foreground after world war ii he became a leader of the spd in the soviet occupation zone of germany and, fiercely opposed by chairman kurt schumacher, led his party into a merger with the communist party under wilhelm pieck. grotewohl, after initial hesitation, yielded to the pressure by the soviet military administration and walter ulbricht and in april 1946 together with pieck formed the new socialist unity party (sed). ==prime minister== with the establishment of the german democratic republic (gdr) on 7 october 1949, grotewohl became the gdr's first pri
1894_births 1964_deaths Independent_Social_Democratic_Party_politicians Members_of_the_People\'s_Chamber_of_the_German_Democratic_Republic Members_of_the_Reichstag_of_the_Weimar_Republic Members_of_the_State_Council_of_the_German_Democratic_Republic People_from_Braunschweig People_from_Brunswick Prime_Ministers_of_East_Germany Recipients_of_the_Order_of_Karl_Marx Recipients_of_the_Order_of_Lenin Recipients_of_the_Patriotic_Order_of_Merit Social_Democratic_Party_of_Germany_politicians Socialist_Unity_Party_of_Germany_politicians