East Germany

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"GDR" redirects here. For other uses, see GDR (disambiguation).
This article is about the country that existed from 1949 to 1990. For the historical
eastern provinces, see Former eastern territories of Germany. For the modern east of
Germany, see New states of Germany. For the group of extinct Germanic languages,
see East Germanic languages.

German Democratic Republic

Deutsche Demokratische Republik

1949–1990

Flag
(1959–1990)

Emblem
(1955–1990)

Motto: "Proletarier aller Länder, vereinigt Euch!"

("Workers of the world, unite!")

Anthem: "Auferstanden aus Ruinen"

("Risen from Ruins")

2:54
 The territory of the German Democratic Republic (East Germany)
from its creation on 7 October 1949 until its dissolution on 3 October
1990

Status Member of the Warsaw Pact (1955–

1989)
Satellite state of the Soviet
Union (1949–1989)[1]
Member of Comecon (1950–1990)[2]

Capital East Berlin[a] (de facto)

and largest city

Official languages German
Sorbian (in parts of Bezirk
Dresden and Bezirk Cottbus)

Religion See Religion in East Germany

Demonym(s) East German

Government Federal Marxist–Leninist one-party soci
alist republic
(1949–1952)
Unitary Marxist–Leninist one-party soci
alist republic
 (1952–1989)
Unitary parliamentary republic
(1989–1990)

General Secretary  

• 1946–1950[b] Wilhelm Pieck and Otto Grotewohl[c]

• 1950–1971 Walter Ulbricht

• 1971–1989 Erich Honecker

• 1989[d] 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

• Upper house Länderkammer[e]

Historical era Cold War

• Constitution adopted 7 October 1949

• Uprising of 1953 16 June 1953

• Warsaw Pact 14 May 1955

• Berlin Crisis 4 June 1961

• Basic Treaty with FRG 21 December 1972

• Admitted to the UN 18 September 1973

• Peaceful Revolution 13 October 1989

• Fall of the Berlin Wall 9 November 1989

• Final Settlement 12 September 1990

• Reunification 3 October 1990

Area

• Total 108,333 km2 (41,828 sq mi)

Population

• 1950 18,388,000[f][3]

• 1970 17,068,000

• 1990 16,111,000

• Density 149/km2 (385.9/sq mi)

GDP (PPP) 1989 estimate

• Total $525.29 billion[4]

• Per capita $42,004[4]

HDI (1989) 0.953[5]
very high

East German mark (1949–1990),

Currency
officially named:
o Deutsche Mark (1949–1964)
o Mark der Deutschen Notenbank (1964–
1967)
o Mark der DDR (1967–1990)
Deutsche Mark (from 1 July 1990)

Time zone (UTC+1)

 Driving side right

Calling code +37

Internet TLD .dd[g][6]

Preceded by Succeeded by
Soviet occupation Federal Republic
zone of Germany of Germany
(reunified
Germany)

Today part of Germany

The initial flag of East Germany adopted in 1949 was identical to

that of West Germany. In 1959, the East German government issued
a new version of the flag bearing the national emblem, serving to
distinguish East from West.

East Germany, officially the German Democratic Republic (GDR; German: Deutsche

Demokratische Republik, pronounced [ˈdɔʏtʃə demoˈkʁaːtɪʃə ʁepuˈbliːk] (
listen), DDR, pronounced [ˌdeːdeːˈʔɛɐ̯] ( listen)), was a state that existed from 1949 to 1990
in eastern Germany as part of the Eastern Bloc in the Cold War. Commonly described
as a communist state, it described itself as a socialist "workers' and peasants' state".
[7]
 Its territory was administered and occupied by Soviet forces following the end of World
War II—the Soviet occupation zone of the Potsdam Agreement, bounded on the east by
the Oder-Neisse line. The Soviet zone surrounded West Berlin but did not include it and
West Berlin remained outside the jurisdiction of the GDR.
The GDR was established in the Soviet zone while the Federal Republic of Germany,
commonly referred to as West Germany, was established in the three western zones.
A satellite state of the Soviet Union,[8] Soviet occupation authorities began transferring
administrative responsibility to German communist leaders in 1948 and the GDR began
to function as a state on 7 October 1949, although Soviet forces remained in the country
throughout the Cold War. Until 1989, the GDR was governed by the Socialist Unity
Party of Germany (SED), although other parties nominally participated in its alliance
organization, the National Front of the German Democratic Republic.[9] The SED made
the teaching of Marxism–Leninism and the Russian language compulsory in schools.[10]
The economy was centrally planned and state-owned.[11] Prices of housing, basic goods
and services were heavily subsidized and set by central government planners rather
than rising and falling through supply and demand. Although the GDR had to pay
substantial war reparations to the Soviets, it became the most successful economy in
the Eastern Bloc. Emigration to the West was a significant problem as many of the
emigrants were well-educated young people and weakened the state economically. The
government fortified its inner German border and built the Berlin Wall in 1961.[12] Many
people attempting to flee[13][14][15] were killed by border guards or booby traps such
as landmines.[16] Those captured spent long periods of time imprisoned for attempting to
 escape.[17][18] In 1951, a referendum in East Germany regarding the remilitarization of
Germany was held, with 95% of the population voting in favour. [19]
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[20] and international negotiations led to
the signing of the Final Settlement treaty on the status and borders of Germany. The
GDR dissolved itself and reunified with West Germany on 3 October 1990. Several of
the GDR's leaders, notably its last communist leader Egon Krenz, were prosecuted by
the Federal Republic after reunification for offenses committed during the Cold War. [21][22]
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 state's de facto capital. It also
bordered the three sectors occupied by the United States, United
Kingdom and France known collectively as West Berlin. The three sectors occupied by
the Western nations were sealed off from the GDR by the Berlin Wall from its
construction in 1961 until it was brought down in 1989.

Contents

 1Naming conventions
 2History
o 2.1Origins
o 2.21949 establishment
o 2.3Zones of occupation
o 2.4Partition
o 2.5GDR identity
o 2.6Die Wende (German reunification)
 3Politics
o 3.1Organization
o 3.2State symbols
 3.2.1Presidential Standard
 3.2.2War and Service Flags and Symbols
 3.2.3East Germany Political and Social Emblems
o 3.3Young Pioneer Programs
 3.3.1Ernst Thälmann Pioneer Organisation
 3.3.1.1Membership
 3.3.1.2Uniform
 3.3.1.3Music
 3.3.2Free German Youth
 3.3.2.1Membership
 3.3.2.2Music
 3.3.2.3Uniform
 4Population
 o 4.1Vital statistics
o 4.2Major cities
 5Administrative districts
 6Military
o 6.1National People's Army
o 6.2Border troops
o 6.3Volkspolizei-Bereitschaft
o 6.4Stasi
o 6.5Combat groups of the working class
o 6.6Conscientious objection
 7Foreign policy
o 7.1Support of Third World socialist countries
o 7.2East Germany and the Middle East conflict
o 7.3Soviet military occupation
 8Economy
o 8.1Consumption and jobs
 9Religion
o 9.1State atheism
o 9.2Protestantism
o 9.3Catholicism
 10Culture
o 10.1Music
o 10.2Theatre
o 10.3Cinema
o 10.4Sport
o 10.5Television and radio
o 10.6Motorsport
 11Industry
o 11.1Telecommunications
 12Totalitarianism and repression
 13Official and public holidays
 14Legacy
o 14.1Decrepit Infrastructure
o 14.2Authoritarianism
o 14.3Ostalgie
o 14.4Electoral consequences
o 14.5Religion
 15See also
 16Explanatory notes
 17References
o 17.1Citations
o 17.2General sources
 18Further reading
o 18.1Historiography and memory
o 18.2In German
 19External links
Naming conventions[edit]
The official name was Deutsche Demokratische Republik (German Democratic
Republic), usually abbreviated to DDR (GDR). Both terms were used in East Germany,
with increasing usage of the abbreviated form, especially since East Germany
considered West Germans and West Berliners to be foreigners following the
promulgation of its second constitution in 1968. West Germans, the western media and
statesmen initially avoided the official name and its abbreviation, instead using terms
like Ostzone (Eastern Zone),[23] Sowjetische Besatzungszone (Soviet Occupation Zone;
often abbreviated to SBZ) and sogenannte DDR[24] or "so-called GDR".[25]
The centre of political power in East Berlin was referred to as Pankow (the seat of
command of the Soviet forces in East Germany was referred to as Karlshorst).[23] Over
time, however, the abbreviation "DDR" was also increasingly used colloquially by West
Germans and West German media.[h]
When used by West Germans, Westdeutschland (West Germany) was a term almost
always in reference to the geographic region of Western Germany and not to the area
within the boundaries of the Federal Republic of Germany. However, this use was not
always consistent and West Berliners frequently used the term Westdeutschland to
denote the Federal Republic.[26] Before World War II, Ostdeutschland (eastern Germany)
was used to describe all the territories east of the Elbe (East Elbia), as reflected in the
works of sociologist Max Weber and political theorist Carl Schmitt.[27][28][29][30][31]

History[edit]
Main article: History of East Germany
Further information: History of Germany

On the basis of the Potsdam Conference, the Allies jointly occupied Germany west of the Oder–Neisse line,
later forming these occupied territories into two independent countries. Light grey: territories annexed by
Poland and the Soviet Union; dark grey: West Germany (formed from the US, UK and French occupation
zones, including West Berlin); red: East Germany (formed from the Soviet occupation zone, including East
Berlin).

Explaining the internal impact of the GDR government from the perspective of German
history in the long term, historian Gerhard A. Ritter (2002) has argued that the East
German state was defined by two dominant forces – Soviet communism on the one
hand, and German traditions filtered through the interwar experiences of German
communists on the other.[32] The GDR always was constrained by the example of the
richer West, to which East Germans compared their nation. The changes implemented
by the communists were most apparent in ending capitalism and in transforming
industry and agriculture, in the militarization of society, and in the political thrust of
the educational system and of the media. On the other hand, the new regime made
relatively few changes in the historically independent domains of the sciences, the
engineering professions,[33]: 185–189  the Protestant churches,[33]: 190  and in many bourgeois
lifestyles.[33]: 190  Social policy, says Ritter, became a critical legitimization tool in the last
decades and mixed socialist and traditional elements about equally. [33]
Origins[edit]
At the Yalta Conference during World War II, the Allies (the US, the UK, and the Soviet
Union) agreed on dividing a defeated Nazi Germany into occupation zones,[34] and on
dividing Berlin, the German capital, among the Allied powers as well. Initially, this meant
the formation of three zones of occupation, i.e., American, British, and Soviet. Later, a
French zone was carved out of the US and British zones.
1949 establishment[edit]
Eastern Bloc

show

Republics of the USSR

show

Allied states

show

Related organizations
 show

Dissent and opposition

show

Cold War events

show

Fall

 v
 t
 e

The ruling communist party, known as the Socialist Unity Party of Germany (SED),

formed in April 1946 from the merger between the Communist Party of Germany (KPD)
and the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD).[35] The two former parties were
notorious rivals when they were active before the Nazis consolidated all power and
criminalized them, and official East German and Soviet histories portrayed this merger
as a voluntary pooling of efforts by the socialist parties and symbolic of the new
friendship of German socialists after defeating their common enemy; however, there is
much evidence that the merger was more troubled than commonly portrayed, and that
the Soviet occupation authorities applied great pressure on the SPD's eastern branch to
merge with the KPD, and the communists, who held a majority, had virtually total control
over policy.[36] The SED remained the ruling party for the entire duration of the East
German state. It had close ties with the Soviets, which maintained military forces in East
Germany until the dissolution of the Soviet regime in 1991 (Russia continued to
maintain forces in the territory of the former East Germany until 1994), with the stated
purpose of countering NATO bases in West Germany.
As West Germany was reorganized and gained independence from its occupiers
(1945–1949), the GDR was established in East Germany in October 1949. The
emergence of the two sovereign states solidified the 1945 division of Germany. [37] On 10
March 1952, (in what would become known as the "Stalin Note") the General Secretary
of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, Joseph Stalin, issued a proposal to reunify
Germany with a policy of neutrality, with no conditions on economic policies and with
guarantees for "the rights of man and basic freedoms, including freedom of speech,
press, religious persuasion, political conviction, and assembly" and free activity of
democratic parties and organizations.[38] The West demurred; reunification was not then
a priority for the leadership of West Germany, and the NATO powers declined the
proposal, asserting that Germany should be able to join NATO and that such a
negotiation with the Soviet Union would be seen as a capitulation. There have been
several debates about whether Germany missed a chance for reunification in 1952.
In 1949 the Soviets turned control of East Germany over to the SED, headed
by Wilhelm Pieck (1876–1960), who became President of the GDR and held the office
until his death, while the SED general secretary Walter Ulbricht assumed most
executive authority. Socialist leader Otto Grotewohl (1894–1964) became prime
minister until his death.[39]
The government of East Germany denounced West German failures in
accomplishing denazification and renounced ties to the Nazi past, imprisoning many
former Nazis and preventing them from holding government positions. The SED set a
primary goal of ridding East Germany of all traces of Nazism.[40][citation needed] It is estimated
that[when?] between 180,000 and 250,000 people were sentenced to imprisonment on
political grounds.[41]