British occupation zone in Germany

The Allied powers who defeated Nazi Germany in World War II divided the country into four occupation zones from 1945 to 1949.

German Reich Deutsches Reich
1945–1949
The C-Pennant Coat of arms
Post-Nazi German occupation borders and territories from 1945 to 1949. British (green), French (blue), American (orange) and Soviet (red) occupation zones. Saar Protectorate (light blue) in the west under the control of France. Berlin is the quadripartite area shown within the red Soviet zone. Bremen consists of the two orange American exclaves in the British sector.
Status	Military occupation
Capital	Berlin (de jure) Frankfurt (American zone) Bad Oeynhausen (British zone) Baden-Baden (French zone) East Berlin (Soviet zone)
Governors (1945)
• British zone	F. Mar. Montgomery
• French zone	Gen. Lattre de Tassigny
• US zone	Gen. Eisenhower
• Soviet zone	Marshal G. K. Zhukov
Historical era	Cold War
• Surrender	8 May 1945
• Allied Control Council	5 July 1945
• Saar Protectoratea	15 December 1947
• Federal Republic of Germany	23 May 1949
• German Democratic Republicb	7 October 1949
• Final Settlementc	12 September 1990
Population
• 1945	64,260,000
• 1949	68,080,000
Currency	Reichsmark (1945–48) Rentenmark (1945–48) Deutschmark (W: 1948–49)d Deutschmark (E: 1948–49)e Saar mark (Saar: 1947–48) Saar franc (Saar: 1948–59)
ISO 3166 code	DE
Preceded by Succeeded by Nazi Germany West Germany East Germany Saar Protectorate West Berlin
Today part of	Germany
Joined the Federal Republic of Germany (West Germany) on 1 January 1957. Reunited Germany by joining the Federal Republic of Germany on 3 October 1990. German reunification took place on 3 October 1990. The western Allied zones of Germany and the western sectors of Berlin. The Soviet zone of Germany and sector of Berlin.
The four sectors of the Allied occupation of Berlin and exclaves.

The British zone consisted of Schleswig-Holstein, Hamburg, Lower Saxony and the present-day state of North Rhine-Westphalia. The British military government was based in Bad Oeynhausen.

Bremen and Bremerhaven were surrounded by the British Zone, but were given to the United States, so that the Americans had a port. What is now Rhineland-Palatinate was to be a part of the British Zone. It was given up to form part of the French occupation zone.

In May 1949 the British, French, and American zones were joined to form the Federal Republic of Germany. The military governors were replaced by civilian high commissioners. The high commissioners were part-governor and part-ambassador. The occupation officially continued until 1955. This is when the Federal Republic became a fully sovereign state, the western occupation zones ceased to exist, and the high commissioners were replaced by normal ambassadors. But the four allied powers still had special rights and responsibilities in Germany until the Final Settlement of 1990.

The city of Berlin, however, was not part of either state and continued to be under Allied occupation until 1990.

The military governors and commissioners

Military governors

• 22 May 1945 - 30 April 1946 Sir Bernard Law Montgomery, 1st Viscount Montgomery of Alamein
• 1 May 1946 - 31 October 1947 William Sholto Douglas
• 1 November 1947 - 21 September 1949 Gen. Sir Brian Robertson, Bt.

High commissioners

• 21 September 1949 - 24 June 1950 Gen. Sir Brian Robertson, Bt.

• 24 June 1950 - 29 September 1953 Sir Ivone Kirkpatrick

• 29 September 1953 - 5 May 1955 Sir Frederick Hoyer-Millar

Related pages

• Allied occupation zone
• American occupation zone
• Soviet occupation zone

References

• Post-WWII commanders/governors of Germany