The four stamps above were issued on 27 May 1950 and feature Wilhelm Pieck, the first and only President of the DDR. A fifth stamp, a 5DM dark blue similar to the 1 and 2DM stamps in the picture, was issued on 3 January 1951.
Wilhelm Pieck is an interesting figure. He was a functionary in the SPD until his opposition to the First World War caused him to leave. He joined the new KPD (Communist Party) in 1918. Arrested with Rosa Luxemburg and Karl Liebknecht he was the only one of the three to survive the experience.
During the Nazi period, Pieck was in exile in France and the USSR, returning to Germany in 1945. On the creation of the DDR he was elected President. However, he lost the chairmanship of the party - the real seat of power- in 1950 to Walter Ulbricht. His loyalty to Moscow, and the trust placed in him by the Soviet Union, meant that he retained his other positions.
His death, on 7 September 1960, was marked by a commemorative issue on 10 September. On his death, the position of President of the DDR was abolished. Curiously, Ulbricht himself did not appear on DDR stamps until August 1961.
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