Walter Ulbricht's Speech on the "Berlin Question" (June 15, 1961) In the photograph below, Walter Ulbricht, head of the GDR State Council, discusses the “Berlin Question” at an international press conference on June 15, 1961, at the House of Ministries in East Berlin. In his speech, Ulbricht welcomed Soviet proposals for a peace treaty and called for the neutralization of West Berlin. Additionally, he stressed that the GDR leadership had no intention of building a wall. Photograph by Gerhard Kiesling.