East Berlin was the name
given to the eastern part of Berlin
between
1949 and 1990.
It
consisted of the Soviet
sector of Berlin that was
established in 1945. The American
, British
and French
sectors
became West Berlin, a de facto
part of West
Germany
. Despite its status as part of an occupied
city, East Berlin was claimed as the capital of East Germany
. From 13 August 1961 until 9 November 1989
East Berlin was separated from West
Berlin by the Berlin
Wall
. The East German government referred to East
Berlin simply as "Berlin" or often
"Berlin, Hauptstadt der
DDR" (Berlin, capital of the GDR). The term "Democratic
Sector" was also used until the 1960s. (See also
Naming conventions)
The
Western Allies (the USA, Britain
and France) never formally acknowledged the authority of the East
German government to govern East Berlin; the official Allied
protocol recognized only the authority of the Soviet Union in East
Berlin in accordance with the occupation status of Berlin as a
whole. The United States Command Berlin, for example, published
detailed instructions for U.S. military and civilian personnel
wishing to visit East Berlin. In fact, the three Western
commandants regularly protested the presence of the East German
National People's Army (NVA)
in East Berlin, particularly on the occasion of military parades.
Nevertheless, the three Western Allies eventually established
embassies in East Berlin in the 1970s, although they never
recognized it as the capital of East Germany. Treaties instead used
terms such as "seat of government."
On 3 October 1990, West and East Germany
were reunited, thus formally ending the
existence of East Berlin.
East Berlin today
Map of East Berlin in 1987
Since reunification, the German government has spent vast amounts
of money on reintegrating the two halves of the city and bringing
services and infrastructure in the former East Berlin up to the
standard established in West Berlin. Despite this, there are still
obvious differences between eastern and western Berlin. Eastern
Berlin has a distinctly different visual aspect, partly because of
the greater survival of prewar façades and streetscapes, some still
showing signs of wartime damage, and partly because of the
distinctive style of urban
Stalinist architecture used in the
GDR.
As in
other former East German cities, a small number of GDR-era names
commemorating socialist heroes have been preserved, such as
Karl-Marx-Allee
, Rosa-Luxemburg-Platz
and Karl-Liebknecht-Straße
; this followed a long process of review in which
many such street names were deemed inappropriate and were
changed. Still visible throughout former East Berlin are the
characteristic "
Ampelmännchen" on
some pedestrian traffic lights. These days they are also visible in
parts of the former West Berlin following a civic debate about
whether the "
Ampelmännchen"
should be abolished or disseminated more widely.
Soviet and East German Commandants of East Berlin
Boroughs of East Berlin
Boroughs of East Berlin
At the time of
German
reunification, East Berlin comprised the
boroughs of
Images of East Berlin
Image:Karl-Marx-Allee Block C Nord Berlin April 2006 060.jpg|Karl
Marx Allee apartments
Image:PICT4247.JPG|Wall plaque of Lenin, off
Wilhelmstraße
Image:PICT4261.JPG|GDR-era mural of Meissen
porcelain on former Council of Ministers building, facing Leipziger
StraßeImage:PICT4566.JPG|The Soviet War Memorial in Treptower
ParkImage:Cafe Moskau.JPG|Cafe Moskau in Karl Marx
AlleeImage:PICT4057.JPG|The Palace of the Republic, being
dismantled
Image:PICT4556.JPG|New
Synagogue
, Oranienburger Straße
Image:Weberwiese Berlin April 2006
147.jpg|"Hochhaus" in Weberwiese- the first high rise apartment
that was built after the warImage:VolksbühBerlJan08.JPG|People's
Theatre,
Rosa-Luxemburg-PlatzImage:Berlin_Wilhelmstrasse.jpg|Late-1980s GDR
apartment blocks on the WilhelmstraßeImage:Strausberger Platz
Berlin April 2006 117.jpg|Strausberger Platz with constructivism
style buildingImage:PICT4039.JPG|Proletarian hero,
Alexanderplatz
Image:PICT4313.JPG|Statues of Marx and
Engels, Marx-Engels-Forum
See also
References
External links
(since 1986)
(since 1985)
(since 1979)
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