page_title: State Council of East Germany
section_title: Election
hierarchical_section_title: State Council of East Germany / Election
caption_attribution_description: For documentary purposes the German Federal Archive often retained the original image captions, which may be erroneous, biased, obsolete or politically extreme. ADN-ZB Mittelstädt-25.6.81- Berlin: Erste Sitzung des Staatsrates. Der von der Volkskammer der DDR neugewählte Staatsrat trat zu seiner ersten Sitzung zusammen.
context_page_description: The State Council was the collective head of state that governed East Germany from 1960 to 1990.
context_section_description: The State Council was elected by the People's Chamber, the East German parliament. Its term was originally four years, but was later changed to five years.
  The body consisted of a chairman, several deputy chairmen (usually six), further members (usually sixteen) and a secretary. Members were taken from the political parties and mass organizations affiliated to the SED-controlled National Front. Occasionally an otherwise prominent citizen was also included.  Outside of East Germany, the chairman's post was reckoned as being equivalent to that of president.
  On paper, the State Council chairman was the second-highest ranking state official in East Germany, behind only the chairman of the Council of Ministers. In practice, however, the chairmanship was occupied by the leader of the SED for all but a few years of its existence. The sole exceptions were the period of transition from the leadership of Walter Ulbricht to Erich Honecker from 1971 to 1976 and the immediate aftermath of the SED's collapse in 1989. The leaders of the smaller parties in the National Front served as deputy chairmen on the council.
caption: Session of the State Council, 25 June 1981
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