Georg August Zinn was born in Frankfurt am Main on May 27, 1901. After successfully studying law, he settled in Kassel as a lawyer in 1931, where he was elected to the city council for the SPD at the age of 28. After the Second World War, which he experienced as a soldier, he continued to be politically active.

After becoming state chairman of the SPD in 1947, he took part in the Parliamentary Council in Bonn as one of the fathers of the Basic Law. He sat in the German Bundestag for two years after the founding of the Federal Republic of Germany before finally deciding to enter state politics and finally being elected as the second Minister President of Hesse in 1950. He held this office until 1969 and, among other things, founded the Hessian State Center for Homeland Service in 1953, today's State Center for Political Education. In 1961, he initiated the first Hessentag in Alsfeld in order to set an example for the coexistence and integration of displaced persons in the newly created state of Hesse.

The state capital honored his commitment to the state on 28 June 1966 by awarding him an honorary citizenship and an independent entry in the city's Golden Book.

Dr. h.c. Dr. e.h. Georg August Zinn died on March 27, 1976 in Frankfurt am Main.