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Mannequins in front of a GDR flag, dressed as GDR soldiers and GDR police
Image: Jens Büttner/dpa/picture alliance

East Germany (GDR)

Topic

East Germany emerged as a communist state from the Soviet occupied zone of Germany after World War II. It was founded in 1949 and formally ceased to exist in 1990 when it was absorbed by West Germany.

Skip next section Reports & Analysis

Reports & Analysis

Barbed wire fences at the border between Czechoslovakia and West Germany, July 1968

Former minister on trial for border deaths in communist era

Former minister on trial for border deaths in communist era

A former interior minister is on trial for the death and injury of people at the Czechoslovak border in communist times.
Law and JusticeMay 25, 2023
Film still from 'Sam: A Saxon': a man in a uniform sitting in a retro couch, looking pensive.

The amazing story of East Germany's first Black policeman

The amazing story of East Germany's first Black policeman

"Sam: A Saxon," the first German production for Disney+, tells of a Black GDR policeman and media star turned fugitive.
CultureApril 26, 2023
Black and white photo of Bertolt Brecht sitting in front of microphones

Why Bertolt Brecht is still played around the world

Why Bertolt Brecht is still played around the world

Born 125 years ago, the playwright of "The Threepenny Opera" remains popular worldwide to this day.
TheaterFebruary 9, 2023
Black and white portrait of Brigitte Reimann.

Cult East German novelist now published in English

Cult East German novelist now published in English

Brigitte Reimann's 'Siblings' portrays divided Germany's impact on her own family, and a feminist artist's lifestyle.
LiteratureFebruary 2, 2023
A black and white photo of US helicopters and soldiers in Vietnam

Looking at Germany's role in the Vietnam War 50 years later

Looking at Germany's role in the Vietnam War 50 years later

DW looks at how Germany's support for Vietnam during the war was divided by east and west.
HistoryJanuary 27, 2023
Meet the Germans | Ost

Meet the Germans road trip: Eastern Germany

Meet the Germans road trip: Eastern Germany

It's time to explore eastern Germany on the next leg of the Meet the Germans road trip.
CultureNovember 10, 202209:48 min
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Skip next section In the spotlight

In the spotlight

East German child's room in museum

GDR censorship: What East Germans were allowed to read

The East German regime nurtured an educated and well-read society — but literature was heavily censored.
LiteratureNovember 7, 2022
Black and white photo of people lighting candles in Leipzig for a prayer for peace in October 1989

Germans revive Cold War Monday demonstrations

Monday protests organized by both the left and the right evoke mixed feelings in Germany.
SocietySeptember 5, 2022
Stamp marking 25 years of German-Soviet friendship - showing a GDR and a Soviet Union flag and Erich Honecker and Leonid Brezhnev shaking hands

What's behind eastern Germans' empathy for Russia?

For many east Germans, opposition to Russia's war on Ukraine now outweighs historical grievances about the West.
SocietyMay 27, 2022
Woman holding a football and wearing a Bayern Munich football shirt.

Sport in Germany: Football, Olympics and a doping scandal

Which sports get German fans cheering? Take the Meet the Germans crash course in German sports.
CultureMarch 17, 202206:08 min
Wolf Biermann doing a gesture with his fingers

Eternal dissident: Singer Wolf Biermann at 85

German singer-songwriter and GDR dissident Wolf Biermann turns 85 on November 15. A look back at his eventful life.
MusicNovember 15, 2021
A bleak East Berlin courtyard by Günter Steffen

In pictures: East Berlin before the fall of the Wall

Berlin photographer Günter Steffen captured East Berlin's final years as a capital. His pictures depict a gloomy city.
ArtsNovember 10, 2021
Skip next section Opinion

Opinion

Martin Muno

Sophie Scholl, Anne Frank and the coronavirus deniers

Martin Muno
Commentary
SocietyNovember 23, 2020
Linda Vierecke

Take interest in Germany's East!

Linda Vierecke
Commentary
PoliticsNovember 9, 2019
Kommentarfoto Kay-Alexander Scholz Hauptstadtstudio

German unification — Next generation, please!

Kay-Alexander Scholz
Commentary
PoliticsOctober 3, 2019
Boehme Henrik Kommentarbild App

To understand Saxony, look at its history

Henrik Böhme
Commentary
PoliticsAugust 31, 2018
Pfeifer Hans Kommentarbild App

A predictable fiasco in Chemnitz

Hans Pfeifer
Commentary
PoliticsAugust 28, 2018