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East Germany
Country in Central Europe (1949–1990) / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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East Germany (German: Ostdeutschland, pronounced [ˈɔstˌdɔʏtʃlant] ⓘ), officially known as the German Democratic Republic (GDR; Deutsche Demokratische Republik, pronounced [ˈdɔʏtʃə demoˈkʁaːtɪʃə ʁepuˈbliːk] ⓘ, DDR), was a country in Central Europe from its formation on 7 October 1949 until its reunification with West Germany on 3 October 1990. Until 1989, it was generally viewed as a communist state and described itself as a socialist "workers' and peasants' state".[5] The economy of the country was centrally planned and state-owned.[6] Although the GDR had to pay substantial war reparations to the Soviets, its economy became the most successful in the Eastern Bloc.[7]
![]() | This article may require copy editing for awkward phrasing and excessive passive voice. (August 2023) |
German Democratic Republic | |||||||||
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1949–1990 | |||||||||
Motto: "Proletarier aller Länder, vereinigt Euch!" ("Workers of the world, unite!") | |||||||||
Anthem: "Auferstanden aus Ruinen" ("Risen from Ruins") | |||||||||
![]() Territory of East Germany (green) during the Cold War | |||||||||
Capital and largest city | East Berlin[lower-alpha 1] 52°31′N 13°24′E | ||||||||
Official languages | German Sorbian (in parts of Bezirk Dresden and Bezirk Cottbus) | ||||||||
Religion | See Religion in East Germany | ||||||||
Demonym(s) |
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Government | Socialist republic | ||||||||
SED Leader | |||||||||
• 1946–1950[lower-alpha 2] | Wilhelm Pieck and Otto Grotewohl[lower-alpha 3] | ||||||||
• 1950–1971 | Walter Ulbricht[lower-alpha 4] | ||||||||
• 1971–1989 | Erich Honecker[lower-alpha 5] | ||||||||
• 1989[lower-alpha 6] | Egon Krenz[lower-alpha 7] | ||||||||
Head of State | |||||||||
• 1949–1960 (first) | Wilhelm Pieck | ||||||||
• 1990 (last) | Sabine Bergmann-Pohl | ||||||||
Head of Government | |||||||||
• 1949–1964 (first) | Otto Grotewohl | ||||||||
• 1990 (last) | Lothar de Maizière | ||||||||
Legislature | Volkskammer | ||||||||
Länderkammer[lower-alpha 8] | |||||||||
Historical era | Cold War | ||||||||
7 October 1949 | |||||||||
16 June 1953 | |||||||||
14 May 1955 | |||||||||
4 June 1961 | |||||||||
9 April 1968 | |||||||||
• Basic Treaty with the FRG | 21 December 1972 | ||||||||
18 September 1973 | |||||||||
13 October 1989 | |||||||||
9 November 1989 | |||||||||
12 September 1990 | |||||||||
3 October 1990 | |||||||||
Area | |||||||||
• Total | 108,875 km2 (42,037 sq mi) | ||||||||
Population | |||||||||
• 1950 | 18,388,000[lower-alpha 9][1] | ||||||||
• 1970 | 17,068,000 | ||||||||
• 1990 | 16,111,000 | ||||||||
• Density | 149/km2 (385.9/sq mi) | ||||||||
GDP (PPP) | 1989 estimate | ||||||||
• Total | $525.29 billion[2] | ||||||||
• Per capita | $26,631[2] | ||||||||
HDI (1990 formula) | 0.953[3] very high | ||||||||
Currency |
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Time zone | (UTC+1) | ||||||||
Driving side | right | ||||||||
Calling code | +37 | ||||||||
Internet TLD | .dd[lower-alpha 10][4] | ||||||||
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Today part of | Germany | ||||||||
The initial Flag of East Germany (GDR) adopted in 1949 was identical to that of West Germany (FRG). In 1959, the government of this country issued a new version of the flag bearing the national emblem, serving to distinguish East from West. |
Before its establishment, the country's territory was administered and occupied by Soviet forces following the Berlin Declaration abolishing German sovereignty in World War II. The Potsdam Agreement established the Soviet-occupied zone, bounded on the east by the Oder-Neiße line. The GDR was dominated by the Socialist Unity Party of Germany (SED), a communist party, before being democratized and liberalized in 1989 as a result of the pressure against communist governments brought by the Revolutions of 1989. This paved the way for East Germany's reunification with the West. Unlike the government of West Germany, the SED did not see its state as the successor to the German Reich (1871–1945) and abolished the goal of unification in the constitution (1974). The SED-ruled GDR was often described as a Soviet satellite state; historians described it as an authoritarian regime.[8][9]
Geographically the GDR bordered the Baltic Sea to the north, Poland to the east, Czechoslovakia to the southeast, and West Germany to the southwest and west. Internally, the GDR also bordered the Soviet sector of Allied-occupied Berlin, known as East Berlin, which was also administered as the country's de facto capital. It also bordered the three sectors occupied by the United States, United Kingdom, and France known collectively as West Berlin (de facto part of the FRG). Emigration to the West was a significant problem as many emigrants were well-educated young people; such emigration weakened the state economically. In response, the GDR government fortified its inner German border and later built the Berlin Wall in 1961.[10] Many people attempting to flee[11][12][13] were killed by border guards or booby traps such as landmines.[14]
In 1989 numerous social, economic, and political forces in the GDR and abroad, one of the most notable being peaceful protests starting in the city of Leipzig, led to the fall of the Berlin Wall and the establishment of a government committed to liberalization. The following year, a free and fair election was held in the country,[15] and international negotiations between the four former Allied countries and the two German states commenced. The negotiations led to the signing of the Final Settlement treaty, which replaced the Potsdam Agreement on the status and borders of a future, reunited Germany. The GDR ceased to exist when its five states ("Länder") joined the Federal Republic of Germany under Article 23 of the Basic Law, and its capital East Berlin united with West Berlin on 3 October 1990. Several of the GDR's leaders, notably its last communist leader Egon Krenz, were later prosecuted for offenses committed during the GDR era.[16][17]