Ruler · 1893 – 1973

Walter Ulbricht

Lived 1893 – 1973; politician. De facto leader of East Germany, 1949 – 1971.

For the full story, the article on Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0); this page holds what the record says of the reign.

Lived: 1893 – 1973; 80 years
In office: 22 years; one reign
Lines: 1; East Germany
Left it: deposed; the ruler's own article

De facto leader

East Germany · the 1st of 4 dated reigns · 1949 – 1990

Walter Ulbricht1949 – 1971

Erich Honecker1971 – 1989

Egon Krenz1989

Hans Modrow1989 – 1990

deposed, abdicated, exiled or removedending not on recordthis entry

Reigned 1949 – 1971 · 22 years

Left it: deposedread from the ruler's own article

On 3 May 1971 Ulbricht was forced to resign from virtually all of his public functions "due to reasons of poor health" and was replaced, with the consent of the Soviets, by Erich Honecker.

Open in the atlas

Walter Ulbricht in the atlas: the article, every line they sat in, and the map in their years.
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Wikidata Q2628 (CC0) · the reigns from Wikidata's P39 terms, the rulers' own articles read by grammar (sentences quoted above, CC BY-SA 4.0) and Kokkonen & Sundell where they code the line · data built 2026-10-06 · Pastlas v2.9.1, by Oleh Voronko. The published atlas and its data are for non-commercial use.