President of Germany
Friedrich Ebert (SPD) served as Germany's first president, followed by Paul von Hindenburg. The office effectively came to an end upon Hindenburg's death in 1934 and its powers merged with those of chancellor. Adolf Hitler now ruled Germany as "Führer und Reichskanzler", combining his previous positions in party and government. The office, however, was not abolished and briefly revived at the end of the Second World War when Hitler appointed Grand Admiral Karl Dönitz as his successor as President of Germany. Dönitz agreed to the surrender to the Allies and was arrested a few days later.
Heinrich von Gagern
At the Heidelberg meeting and the preliminary convention ("Vorparlament") of Frankfurt he deeply impressed the assemblies with the breadth and moderation of his views; with the result that when the German national parliament met (18 May), he was elected its first president. His influence was at first paramount, both with the Unionist party and with the more moderate elements of the Left, and it was he who was mainly instrumental in imposing the principle of a united empire with a common parliament, and in carrying the election of the Archduke John as regent. With the growing split between the Great Germans ("Grossdeutschen"), who wished the new empire to include the Austrian provinces, and the Little Germans ("Kleindeutschen"), who realized that German unity could only be attained by excluding them, his position was shaken.