Pieck, Wilhelm. Born Jan. 3, 1876, in Guben; died Sept. 7, 1960, in Berlin. Prominent figure in the German and international workersâ movements and in the party and state organizations of the German Democratic Republic. The son of a worker, Pieck was a carpenter by trade. He joined the woodworkersâ union in 1894 and the Social Democratic Party of Germany in 1895. From 1899 to 1906 he was chairman of a district organization of the party, and from 1906 to 1910 he was secretary of the partyâs city organization in Bremen.