There were two initial recipients of the award, which was presented by Walter Ulbricht.
A reconstruction would have been quite possible but a comment by Walter Ulbricht, the party chief of the SED, "... a socialist city does not need Gothic churches", doomed the church.
Walter Ulbricht (June 30, 1893 – August 1, 1973) German communist politician
Walter Scott | Sir Walter Scott | Walter Cronkite | Walter Raleigh | Walter Benjamin | Walter Mondale | Walter Matthau | Walter Gropius | Walter Hamma | Walter Savage Landor | Walter Burley Griffin | Walter Payton | Walter | Bruno Walter | Walter Winchell | Walter Crane | Walter Rilla | Walter Koenig | Walter Brennan | Walter Sickert | Walter Pidgeon | Walter Isaacson | Walter Damrosch | Walter Crickmer | Walter Brueggemann | Walter Reed | Walter Browne | Little Walter | Walter Runciman, 1st Viscount Runciman of Doxford | Walter Rothschild, 2nd Baron Rothschild |
During his time with Der Spiegel he also had more than 25 cover stories to his credit as well as interviews with Heinrich Nordhoff, SPD politician Georg Leber, Nikita Khrushchev, Walter Ulbricht and Henry Ford II.