Talk:East Germany

What's the de jure capital of East Germany?

The following discussion is closed. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page. No further edits should be made to this discussion.

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Just wondering. Patriciogetsongettingridofhiswiki (talk) 21:15, 18 December 2022 (UTC)

it doesn't have one. It no longer exists as a separate state. See German reunification. AndyTheGrump (talk) 21:45, 18 December 2022 (UTC)

I meant to say "What was East Germany's de jure capital when it existed" Patriciogetsongettingridofhiswiki (talk) 19:09, 19 December 2022 (UTC)

East Berlin was the capital, period. The NATO trolls maintaining this article added that garbage footnote because Amerikkka and its two older brothers England and France (the original NATO trolls) all refused to recognize GDR's capital. Crybabies. 142.198.135.212 (talk) 12:29, 23 May 2023 (UTC)

Was the Soviet Sector ever recognized as part of the GDR and its capital? Incidentally, the GDR referred to it as Berlin Haupstadt der DDR. TFD (talk) 15:29, 23 May 2023 (UTC)

Not even the Soviets fully recognized East Berlin as the formal capital. 84.216.156.210 (talk) 08:56, 7 October 2023 (UTC)

The Soviet Union and other Communist countries refused to recognize West Berlin as even being part of West Germany, let alone as West Germany's de jure capital.

Communist countries, however, did not recognise West Berlin as part of West Germany and usually described it as a "third" German jurisdiction, called to "independent political unit" (German: selbständige politische Einheit). On maps of East Berlin, West Berlin often did not appear as an adjacent urban area but as a monochrome terra incognita, sometimes showing the letters WB, meaning "Westberlin" (German: Westberlin) or overlaid with a legend or pictures. It was often labelled "Westberlin special political area" (German: Besonderes politisches Gebiet Westberlin).

West_Berlin#Legal_status

Carney333 (talk) 03:51, 10 February 2024 (UTC)

Just to reinforce my point, see this excerpt from page 88 of an official 1986 publication of the East German government describing the GDR to foreign readers. It says:

In its relations with West Berlin the GDR is guided by strict adherence to the Quadripartite Agreement, notably its central provision that West Berlin continues not to be a constituent part of the Federal Republic and may not be governed by it.

Carney333 (talk) 00:35, 11 February 2024 (UTC)

West Berlin was never internationally recognized as part of the Federal Republic of Germany, even though it was treated as one of the Lander. The FRG chose Bonn, not West Berlin, as its capital.

OTOH, the FRG claimed sovereignty over all of the former Soviet Sector, all of Berlin and half of Poland, until renouncing these claims as part of Ostpolitik. TFD (talk) 01:28, 11 February 2024 (UTC)

West Germany never recognized the GDR as sovereign country, as opposed to parts of today’s Poland. There was no GDR citizenship, according to West German law, and West Germany didn’t have an embassy in the GDR. Andif1 (talk) 19:35, 15 March 2024 (UTC)

The discussion above is closed. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page. No further edits should be made to this discussion.

Extended-confirmed-protected edit request on 2 August 2023

Many people attempting to flee[14][15][16] were killed by border guards or booby traps such as landmines.[17]

killed => killed — Preceding unsigned comment added by 109.228.195.209 (talk) 09:25, 2 August 2023 (UTC)

 Not done: it's not clear what changes you want to be made. Please mention the specific changes in a "change X to Y" format and provide a reliable source if appropriate.  Spintendo  10:37, 2 August 2023 (UTC)

I think this would constitute WP:OVERLINKING. –Vipz (talk) 20:10, 2 August 2023 (UTC)

National Committee for a Free Germany(NKFD)

I think we should add the National Committee for a Free Germany into a section. maybe a mix between the (identity) section and the (origin) section of East Germany. The reason why is because many members of this organization played a big role in the foundation, creation and the governance of east Germany. Zyxrq (talk) 04:06, 19 December 2023 (UTC)

Satellite state

@Vif12vf, I ask you to explain the reasons of reverting my edit. --UA0Volodymyr (talk) 03:11, 10 January 2024 (UTC)

Infoboxes are for general facts, not characterizations that shall be attributed. East Germany was a sovereign state, just like West Germany was, or modern-day Belarus is. Whether or not someone considers a state to be a 'satellite' of another is irrelevant regarding its legal standing. I distinctly remember reverting the same exact edit already in July 2023. Please self-revert and follow the standard WP:BRD procedure. –Vipz (talk) 21:07, 10 January 2024 (UTC)

Comecon members are widely characterized as Soviet Satellite states, including the Polish People's Republic page. There's a provided by the authoritative sources proofs that these countries didn't have fully independent and sovereign policies, but were subordinated to the authority of the Soviet Union.

Also, 2 Comecon members were invaded by the USSR after leading an independent and more liberal than socialistic dictatorship policies.

Both DPR between 2014 and 2022 or Northern Cyprus are also legally considered as 'independent', but both considered as military occupation by an international community.

So, by these reasons I disagree with your statement and I won't revert my constructive and cited edit. If you don't agree with me, please provide an authoritative sources proving your point and statement. Ones proving mine I've already cited in my edit.

--UA0Volodymyr (talk) 21:25, 10 January 2024 (UTC)

WP:BRD is not applied here because Vif12vf didn't provide any reason for reverting my good-faith edit in the edit summary. I've constructively reverted their unexplained revert and invited to this talk page. --UA0Volodymyr (talk) 01:13, 11 January 2024 (UTC)

"Soviet satellite" state is a politically charged statement that requires extensive scolarly sourcing, so far the evidence presented is lacking. Political influence of one state over another is a common thing, one needs to be careful with formulations. I propose removing "status" altogether from the infobox. F.Alexsandr (talk) 00:47, 15 January 2024 (UTC)

Agree. That's a very controversial and debatable point and we should follow the Neutral point of view. --UA0Volodymyr (talk) 07:14, 15 January 2024 (UTC)

Government

@Nikkimaria Why did you remove the government section? Please explain. --UA0Volodymyr (talk) 07:21, 15 January 2024 (UTC)

Hi UA0Volodymyr, this level of detail would be better explored (and properly sourced) in the article body. Nikkimaria (talk) 00:32, 16 January 2024 (UTC)

What about the Polish People's Republic page where there is a similar section with nearly same size? --UA0Volodymyr (talk) 04:11, 16 January 2024 (UTC)

That should be addressed too. Nikkimaria (talk) 04:39, 16 January 2024 (UTC)

For a complete discussion: the section that was being added multiple times was: this one. As an initial idea for a consensus: one could either attach a note to a simple statement like "Communist" or drastically reduce the amount of information and linking. JackTheSecond (talk) 02:27, 1 March 2024 (UTC)

Minor typos in the Ostalgie subsection

The final paragraph in the "Ostalgie" subsection reads

"In 2023, a poll found that 40% of East Germans identify as East Germans rather then German which was 52%."

I think that it should be changed to something more grammatically correct like

"In 2023, a poll found that 40% of Germans living in the former East Germany identify as East Germans rather than German, which 52% identified as." JonathanArbuckle (talk) 06:49, 6 July 2024 (UTC)