Three days before the creation of the German Democratic Republic (GDR), the leader writer of the German newspaper Süddeutsche Zeitung reflects on the position of the Soviet Union and comments on a protest note from the East European States issued on 2 October 1949.

On 7 October 1949, the Constitution of the German Democratic Republic (GDR) is adopted in Berlin.

Map illustrating the birth of the German Democratic Republic (GDR) on the occasion of the constituent meeting of the People’s Chamber on 7 October 1949.

From 1949 to 1964, Otto Grotewohl was Head of Government of the German Democratic Republic (GDR).

On 12 October 1949, Otto Grotewohl, Head of Government of the German Democratic Republic (GDR), delivers a speech to his government in which he deplores the behaviour of the West and thanks the USSR for its active support in the creation of the GDR.

In an edition published on 13 October 1949, the West German weekly news magazine Der Spiegel describes Otto Grotewohl, Prime Minister of the German Democratic Republic (GDR).

‘This'll make it thrive!' In 1949, this cartoon from Fritz Meinhard portrays the political future of the FRG and GDR as a German heraldic eagle, with, on the left, the new West Germany, prosperous and strong, supported by the United States and its allies, and, on the right, a weakened, militarised communist East Germany under the direct control of Moscow.

On 8 October 1954, the fifth anniversary of the birth of the German Democratic Republic (GDR), the Soviet Union Foreign Minister Vyacheslav Molotov is received by Otto Grotewohl and Walter Ulbricht in East Berlin.