Republic in international relations. Concluding and signing treaties with foreign countries on behalf of the Republic. Accrediting and receiving ambassadors and ministers. To become effective, all orders and decrees issued by the president of the Republic needed to be countersigned by the chairman of the Council of Ministers or the competent Minister. The president exercised the right of pardon on behalf of the Republic. In this function he was advised by a committee of the Volkskammer. Incapacitation and vacancy Whenever the president of the Republic was unable to attend to his office, he was represented by the president of the Volkskammer. If such incapacity is expected to continue for a protracted period, a substitute was to be appointed by (a specific) law. Whenever the presidency was terminated prematurely, the same rule applied until the election of a new president. President Pieck was already 73 years old when he won his first term in 1949. Although he served as co-chairman of the SED alongside Prime Minister Otto Grotewohl from 1949 to 1950, he never played a major role in the party. Most of the power was held by Walter Ulbricht, First Secretary of the party from 1950. This changed after the abolition of the presidential office, since the leader of the SED was usually also head of state. Abolition After Wilhelm Pieck had died in 1960, the presidency was abolished in favor of a collective body, the State Council. The State Council was elected in the same way as the president, by the Volkskammer, and initially exercised the powers of the presidency. In reality, the State Council was effectively represented by its chairman, and it was reduced to a ceremonial body by 1974, with its chairman deriving real power from leadership of the SED. With the Constitution of 1968, the last references to the presidency were eliminated. After the Peaceful Revolution, there were plans to reintroduce the office of the president of the Republic by constitutional law from 1990 onward, which did not happen in the course of German reunification. Presidential standards Gallery See also President of Germany (1919–1945) President of Germany References External links 1949 Constitution of the GDR (full text in German) 1968 Constitution of the GDR (full text in German) Government of East Germany ! 1949 establishments in East Germany 1960 disestablishments in East Germany East Germany Lists of political office-holders in Germany Titles of national or ethnic