East Germany
German Democratic Republic Deutsche Demokratische Republik | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1949–1990 | |||||||||
| Motto: Proletarier aller Länder, vereinigt Euch! "Proletarians of all countries, unite!" | |||||||||
| Anthem: Auferstanden aus Ruinen "Risen from Ruins" | |||||||||
Location of East Germany (dark green) in Europe (dark grey) | |||||||||
| Status | Satellite state of the Soviet Union, member of the Warsaw Pact and Comecon | ||||||||
| Capital and largest city | East Berlin 52°31′N 13°24′E / 52.517°N 13.400°E | ||||||||
| Official languages | German Sorbian (only in parts of Bezirk Dresden and Bezirk Cottbus districts) | ||||||||
| Demonyms |
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| Government | Unitary communist state | ||||||||
| SED Leader | |||||||||
• 1946–1950 | Wilhelm Pieck and Otto Grotewohl | ||||||||
• 1950–1971 | Walter Ulbricht | ||||||||
• 1971–1989 | Erich Honecker | ||||||||
• 1989 | Egon Krenz | ||||||||
| 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 | |||||||||
| Historical era | Cold War | ||||||||
| 7 October 1949 | |||||||||
| 16 June 1953 | |||||||||
| 14 May 1955 | |||||||||
• Sovereignty recognized by the USSR | 20 September 1955 | ||||||||
| 4 June 1961 | |||||||||
| 9 April 1968 | |||||||||
• Basic Treaty with the FRG | 21 December 1972 | ||||||||
| Autumn 1989 | |||||||||
| 9 November 1989 | |||||||||
| 12 September 1990 | |||||||||
| 3 October 1990 | |||||||||
| 15 March 1991 | |||||||||
| Area | |||||||||
• Total | 108,333 km2 (41,828 sq mi) | ||||||||
| Population | |||||||||
• 1950 | 18,388,000 | ||||||||
• 1970 | 17,068,000 | ||||||||
• 1990 | 16,111,000 | ||||||||
• Density | 149/km2 (385.9/sq mi) | ||||||||
| GDP (PPP) | 1989 estimate | ||||||||
• Total | $525.29 billion | ||||||||
• Per capita | $26,631 | ||||||||
| GDP (nominal) | 1989 estimate | ||||||||
• Total | $160 billion | ||||||||
• Per capita | $9,679 | ||||||||
| Gini (1990) | 18.5 low inequality | ||||||||
| HDI (1990 formula) | 0.953 very high | ||||||||
| Currency |
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| Time zone | (UTC+1) | ||||||||
| Calling code | +37 | ||||||||
| ISO 3166 code | DD | ||||||||
| Internet TLD | .dd | ||||||||
| |||||||||
| Today part of | Germany | ||||||||
From 1949 East and West Germany had identical flags, however, in 1959 a new East German flag was promulgated which included the national emblem, thus distinguishing the two states. | |||||||||
East Germany, officially the German Democratic Republic (GDR), was a country in Central Europe from its formation on 7 October 1949 until its reunification with West Germany (Federal Republic of 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. The economy of the country was centrally planned and state-owned. Although the GDR had to pay substantial war reparations to the Soviet Union, its economy became the most successful in the Eastern Bloc.
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 amid the revolutions of 1989; this paved the way for East Germany's reunification with West Germany. Unlike the government of West Germany, the SED did not see its state as the successor to the German Reich (1871–1945). In 1974, it abolished the goal of unification in the constitution. The SED-ruled GDR was often described as a Soviet satellite state; historians describe it as an authoritarian regime.
Geographically, the GDR bordered the Baltic Sea to the north, Poland to the east, Czechoslovakia to the southeast, and West Germany to the west. Internally, the GDR bordered East Berlin, the Soviet sector of Allied-occupied 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, this trend economically weakened the state. In response, the GDR government fortified its inner German border and built the Berlin Wall in 1961. Many people attempting to flee were killed by border guards or booby traps such as landmines.
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, 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.