Erich Ollenhauer

Erich Ollenhauer
Leader of the Social Democratic Party
In office 27 September 1952 – 14 December 1963
Preceded by	Kurt Schumacher
Succeeded by	Willy Brandt
President of the Socialist International
In office 9 September 1963 – 14 December 1963
Preceded by	Alsing Andersen
Succeeded by	Bruno Pittermann
Personal details
Born	27 March 1901 Magdeburg, German Empire
Died	14 December 1963(1963-12-14) (aged 62) Bonn, West Germany
Political party	Social Democratic Party of Germany

Erich Ollenhauer (27 March 1901 – 14 December 1963) was the leader of the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD) from 1952 until 1963. He was a key leader of the opposition to Konrad Adenauer in the Bundestag. In exile under the Nazis, he returned to Germany in February 1946, becoming vice chairman of the SPD. He was a close ally of the chairman Kurt Schumacher, and worked on party organization. Where Schumacher was a passionate intellectual, Ollenhauer was a thorough and efficient bureaucrat. He became party leader after Schumacher's death in 1952. Besides attending to organizational details, his main role was moderating the tension between the left-wing and right-wing factions. He remained party leader until his death, but yielded to the charismatic Berlin mayor Willy Brandt in 1961 as the party's candidate for chancellor. ^[1]