Not so Karin, who knew people who had found themselves locked in a communist empire simply because they happened to be on the wrong side of the Wall the night the East German leader, Walter Ulbricht, ordered its erection.

FORBES: Karin Germany Value in An Exceptional Friend

In 1960, the post of president was abolished in East Germany following the death of President Wilhelm Pieck and Walter Ulbricht became head of an all-powerful new Council of State.

CNN: Friday,