Biography

After school he trained as a printer from 1908 to 1912. After his membership in the Socialist Workers' Youth had a lasting impact on him, Grotewohl joined the SPD in 1912. In the following two years he worked as a printer in Braunschweig, Wolfenbüttel and Krefeld. When the First World War broke out, Grotewohl was drafted into military service in 1914, which he did until the end of the war in 1918. Under the influence of the November Revolution of the same year, Grotewohl left the SPD to turn to the USPD. In Braunschweig he was actively involved in the revolutionary events in 1918/19. Grotewohl then worked as an employee of the Braunschweig local health insurance fund from 1919 to 1921. From 1920 to 1926 he sat in the state parliament of Braunschweig, for which he also served as Minister of the Interior and Public Education until 1922. In 1922 Grotewohl rejoined the SPD.

A year later he was appointed Minister of Justice of the Free State of Braunschweig, where he served until 1924. In the following years, Grotewohl also undertook several studies in Hanover and Berlin. From 1928 to 1933 he was also represented in the Reichstag. Grotewohl worked as president of the state insurance company in Braunschweig from 1925 to 1933. He had to give up this position a few months after Adolf Hitler came to power in January 1933. He was forced to leave Braunschweig and settled in Hamburg, where he worked as a commercial employee until 1938. Grotewohl moved to Berlin in 1938, where he was imprisoned for his membership in an illegal social democratic group. Released from prison in 1940, he worked as managing director of a small company in Berlin, where he was also involved in the social democratic resistance. In 1945 he was able to avoid being drafted into the Volkssturm by going into hiding.

As a result of the collapse of National Socialist rule, Grotewohl took part in the reconstruction of the SPD in Berlin. After some hesitation, in 1946 he supported the merger of the SPD and KPD to form the SED, which was carried out by Wilhelm Pieck under pressure from the occupying power in the Soviet occupation zone. Until 1954 he led the SED as chairman together with Pieck. Grotewohl was a member of the Saxon state parliament from 1946 to 1950. From 1947 to 1949 he also served as President of the German People's Congress. After the founding of the German Democratic Republic, Grotewohl was promoted to its Prime Minister (then: Chairman of the Council of Ministers) in 1949. From this year he also sat in the GDR People's Chamber. In September 1960 he was appointed Deputy Chairman of the State Council. A few months later, an illness made it difficult for him to continue to perform his functions. From 1962 Grotewohl was represented as head of government by Willi Stoph.

Otto Emil Franz Grotewohl died on September 21, 1964 in Berlin (East).

- IMDb mini biography by: Christian_Wolfgang_Barth