Chamber of States in the context of People's Chamber

The Founding of East Germany (German: Gründung der Deutschen Demokratischen Republik), formally known as the German Democratic Republic, took place on October 7, 1949, and the following days a number of related events took place among them the Provisional People's Chamber, the Chamber of States, and the Provisional Government of East Germany were formed and Wilhelm Pieck was elected as the first president. During the existence of the German Democratic Republic, the event of the foundation was annually commemorated in the Republic Day which was a public holiday.

The President of the German Democratic Republic (German: Präsident der Deutschen Demokratischen Republik) was the head of state of the German Democratic Republic, commonly known as East Germany, from 1949 until 1960. The office was created by the Constitution of 1949 (Section V) with the President of the Republic was elected by the People's Chamber (Volkskammer) and the Chamber of States (Länderkammer). The office was mostly ceremonial in nature and, if necessary, the President of the People's Chamber acted as the President.

Wilhelm Pieck of the Socialist Unity Party of Germany (SED) was the sole incumbent as President of the German Democratic Republic, elected on 11 October 1949 and re-elected in 1953 and in 1957. On 7 September 1960, shortly after the death of Pieck, the Constitution was amended which abolished the office of President. The Law concerning the formation of the State Council of 12 September 1960 introduced the State Council of East Germany, a collective head of state, instead of the presidency. The State Council was abolished during Die Wende of East Germany in 1989/90, with the President of the People's Chamber Sabine Bergmann-Pohl acted as interim head of state.

The Volkskammer (German: [ˈfɔlkskamɐ], "People's Chamber") was the supreme power organ of East Germany. It was the only branch of government in the state, and per the principle of unified power, all state organs were subservient to it.

The Volkskammer was initially the lower house of a bicameral legislature. The upper house was the Chamber of States, or Länderkammer, but in 1952 the states of East Germany were dissolved, and the Chamber of States was abolished in 1958. Constitutionally, the Volkskammer was the highest organ of state power in the GDR, and both constitutions vested it with great lawmaking powers. All other branches of government, including the judiciary, were responsible to it. By 1960, the chamber appointed the State Council (the GDR's collective head of state), the Council of Ministers (the GDR's government), and the National Defence Council (the GDR's collective military leadership).