35 years ago on the 3 October 1990, the German Democratic Republic (GDR/East Germany) joined the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG/West Germany) to form Germany as we know it today.
The day of Reunification came after the end of the Cold War in 1989 and the fall of the Berlin wall separating East and West Germany on the 9th November 1989. The Berlin wall was a wall built along the entire border of East and West Germany, leaving one crossing, Checkpoint Charlie. The wall was officially built to keep American soldiers and spies out of East Germany, but mostly served to keep citizens in East Germany.
The GDR (East Germany) was a communist state created by the Soviet Union, run as a dictatorship by the government and under surveillance by the Stasi (the secret police), who monitored communication and maintained files on millions of people. Compared to The FRG (West Germany), the GDR had a slower economy, movement and educational restrictions and limited rights, which could be violated by the state. Citizens who abided by the rules set by the government lived without social inequality, but people who had differing opinions were intimidated, restricted educationally, assigned worse jobs or imprisoned.
In contrast, the FRG was a democratic state, originally controlled separately by Britain, France and the US, but in 1949 the allies merged their territories to create the FRG. In West Germany, citizens had rights that couldn’t be violated by government organisations, freedom to vote and a constitutional state in which everyone was equal.
In 1989, civil unrest in Germany led to pressure on the East German government to relax
regulations and allow East German citizens access into West Germany. At a press conference on the 9th of November, the GDR spokesperson Gunter Schabowski announced that every citizen of East Germany could travel to the west, effective immediately. However, he failed to clarify that some restrictions would still be in place, leading to large gatherings on both sides of the wall. A rush led guards to abandon passport checks and let large groups of people through the wall. East German citizens could now travel freely into West Germany.
When the Berlin Wall fell, it effectively marked the collapse of the GDR, as along with peaceful protests pressuring the government, dissolving communist powers in Europe and an aspiration for German unity, it quickly led to the dissolution of East Germany and the reunification of Germany.
In the summer of 1990, the West German mark was introduced into East Germany. Then, in
September the same year, the Two Plus Four Agreement was signed, establishing borders,
military limitations and giving full sovereignty to Germany as a single state. Finally, the day of Reunification came, when the Unification Treaty signed in August 1990 came into place and Berlin was restored as the capital of the whole of Germany.
