Karl Dönitz, German admiral and politician, President of Germany (died 1980)

Karl Dönitz was a German grand admiral and convicted war criminal who, following Adolf Hitler's suicide, succeeded him as head of state of Nazi Germany during the Second World War in April 1945. He held the position until the dissolution of the Flensburg Government following Germany's unconditional surrender to the Allies weeks later. As Supreme Commander of the Navy beginning in 1943, he played a major role in the naval history of the war.

A number of presidential offices have existed in Germany since the collapse of the German Empire in 1918.