East Berlin (German: Ost-Berlin; pronounced[ˈɔstbɛ:ˌliːn]ⓘ) was the capital of East Germany (GDR) from 1949 to 1990. From 1945, it was the Soviet occupation sector of Berlin. The American, British, and French sectors were known as West Berlin. From 13 August 1961 until 9 November 1989, East Berlin was separated from West Berlin by the Berlin Wall. The Western Allied powers did not recognize East Berlin as the GDR's capital, nor the GDR's authority to govern East Berlin. For most of its administrative existence, East Berlin was officially known as Berlin, capital of the GDR (German: Berlin, Hauptstadt der DDR) by the GDR government. On 3 October 1990, the day Germany was officially reunified, East and West Berlin formally reunited as the city of Berlin.
With the London Protocol of 1944 and subsequent Potsdam Conference in 1945,[1] the Allied powers of the United States, the United Kingdom, and the Soviet Union decided to divide Germany into three occupation zones and to establish a special area of Berlin, which was occupied by the three Allied Forces together.[2] In May 1945, the Soviet Union installed a city government for the whole city that was called "Magistrate of Greater Berlin", which existed until 1947. After the war, the Allied Forces initially administered the city together within the Allied Kommandatura, which served as the governing body of the city. However, in 1948 the Soviet representative left the Kommandatura and the common administration broke apart during the following months. In the Soviet sector, a separate city government was established, which continued to call itself the "Magistrate of Greater Berlin".
When the German Democratic Republic was established in 1949, it immediately claimed East Berlin as its capital—a claim that was recognized by all communist countries. Nevertheless, East Berlin representation in the Volkskammer initially only consisted of non-voting delegates, indirectly elected by the Magistrate, until an amendment to the electoral law providing for direct elections was passed on June 28, 1979, taking effect on June 14, 1981.[3]
In June 1948, all railways and roads leading to West Berlin were blocked, and East Berliners were not allowed to emigrate. Nevertheless, more than 1,000 East Germans were escaping to West Berlin each day by 1960, caused by the strains on the East German economy from war reparations owed to the Soviet Union, massive destruction of industry, and lack of assistance from the Marshall Plan. In August 1961, the East German Government tried to stop the population exodus by separating West Berlin by the Berlin Wall. It was very dangerous for fleeing residents to cross because armed soldiers were trained to shoot illegal emigrants.[4]
East Germany was a socialist republic. Eventually, Christian churches were allowed to operate without restraint after years of harassment by authorities. In the 1970s, the wages of East Berliners rose and working hours fell.[5]
The Soviet Union and the Communist Bloc recognized East Berlin as the GDR's capital. However, Western Allies (the United States, United Kingdom, and France) never formally acknowledged the authority of the East German government to govern East Berlin. 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.[6] In fact, the three Western commandants regularly protested against the presence of the East German National People's Army 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".[7]
On 3 October 1990, East and West Germany and East and West Berlin were reunited, thus formally ending the existence of East Berlin. Citywide elections in December 1990 resulted in the first "all-Berlin" mayor being elected to take office in January 1991, with the separate offices of mayors in East and West Berlin expiring at the time, and Eberhard Diepgen (a former mayor of West Berlin) became the first elected mayor of a reunited Berlin.[8]
Historical population
East Berlin reached its highest population in 1988 with 1.28million. The lowest value was in 1961, the year the Berlin Wall was built, with under 1.06million registered. The figures in the following table, unless otherwise indicated, are from the official central statistical office of East Germany.
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.
After reunification, the East German economy suffered significantly. Under the adopted policy of privatization of state-owned firms under the auspices of the Treuhandanstalt, many East German factories were shut down—which also led to mass unemployment—due to gaps in productivity with and investment compared to West German companies, as well as an inability to comply with West German pollution and safety standards in a way that was deemed cost-effective. Because of this, a massive amount of West German economic aid was poured into East Germany to revitalize it. This stimulus was part-funded through a 7.5% tax on income for individuals and companies (in addition to normal income tax or company tax) known as the Solidaritätszuschlaggesetz (SolZG) or "solidarity surcharge", which though only in effect for 1991–1992 (later reintroduced in 1995 at 7.5 and then dropped down to 5.5% in 1998 and continues to be levied to this day) led to a great deal of resentment toward the East Germans.[9][10][5]
West and East Berlin viewed from space in 2013.
Despite the large sums of economic aid poured into East Berlin, there still remain obvious differences between the former East and West Berlins. East Berlin has a distinct visual style; this is partly due to the greater survival of prewar façades and streetscapes, with some still showing signs of wartime damage. The unique look of Socialist Classicism that was used in East Berlin (along with the rest of the former GDR) also contrasts markedly with the urban development styles employed in the former West Berlin. Additionally, the former East Berlin (along with the rest of the former GDR) retains a small number of its GDR-era street and place names commemorating German socialist heroes, such as Karl-Marx-Allee, Rosa-Luxemburg-Platz, and Karl-Liebknecht-Straße. Many such names, however, were deemed inappropriate (for various reasons) and, through decommunization, changed after a long process of review (so, for instance, Leninallee reverted to Landsberger Allee in 1991, and Dimitroffstraße reverted to Danziger Straße in 1995).
Another symbolic icon of the former East Berlin (and of East Germany as a whole) is the Ampelmännchen (tr. "little traffic light men"), a stylized version of a fedora-wearing man crossing the street, which is found on traffic lights at many pedestrian crosswalks throughout the former East. Following a civic debate about whether the Ampelmännchen should be abolished or disseminated more widely (due to concerns of consistency), several crosswalks in some parts of the former West Berlin began to employ the Ampelmännchen.
Twenty-five years after the two cities were reunified, the people of East and West Berlin still had noticeable differences between them, and these differences became more apparent among the older generations. The two groups also had sometimes-derogatory slang terms to refer to each other. A former East Berliner (or East German) was known as an "Ossi" (from the German word for east, Ost), and a former West Berliner (or West German) was known as a "Wessi" (from the German word for west, West). Both sides also engaged in stereotyping the other. A stereotypical Ossi had little ambition or poor work ethic and was chronically bitter, while a stereotypical Wessi was arrogant, selfish, impatient and pushy.[4]
The legislature of East Berlin was the City Assembly of Deputies (German: Stadtverordnetenversammlung) (SVV), which had 130 members elected every five years alongside the Volkskammer and the legislatures of the other Bezirke of East Germany.[11] The assembly met in the Red City Hall, which also housed the Magistrate of East Berlin. The actual significance of the assembly was little, the assembly being in session only a few times per year too unanimously approve decisions made by the SED and the Magistrate.
The assembly was first "elected" in October 1954 concurrently with the second Volkskammer. After not having had a legislature at all since the split in 1948, there briefly was an "People's Assembly of Greater Berlin" from February 1953, composed of Democratic Bloc-appointed members.[11][12]
As with all elections before the Peaceful Revolution, elections in East Berlin were neither free nor fair, voters only being able to approve or reject a list of candidates put forward by the National Front. While voters could reject the list, they would have to use the polling booth, the use of which was documented by Stasi informants located at every polling site.
Magistrate
The Red City Hall in 2009
After each election, the East Berlin assembly elected the Magistrate of East Berlin (German: Magistrat von Berlin, Hauptstadt der DDR), the municipal government of East Berlin. The Magistrate also controlled the work of the borough governments,[12] which, among other things, were exclusively responsible for running elections. The Magistrate was originally composed of the Lord Mayor of East Berlin as chairman, eight deputy mayors, the Magistrate secretary (who prepared the meetings of the assembly and Magistrate and controlled the implementation of their decisions),[12] and eight other members known as city councilors (German: Stadtrat).[11]
With the exception of the Lord Mayor, his first deputy and the Magistrate secretary, all Magistrate members headed one of the 15 governmental departments. These departments were accountable to both the Magistrate and the respective ministry (for example, the East Berlin health department was directly accountable to the East German health ministry) under the legal principal of Doppelte Unterstellung.
Served from June 1978 to December 1989 and was also responsible for mass rallies, managing relations with other State organs, the first deputy borough mayors and persecutees of the Nazi regime.[14]
Durie, William (2012). The British Garrison Berlin 1945 - 1994: nowhere to go ... a pictorial historiography of the British Military occupation / presence in Berlin. Berlin: Vergangenheitsverlag (de). ISBN978-3-86408-068-5. OCLC978161722.
↑"Rep. 124 - Magistrat von Berlin, Erster Stellvertreter des Oberbürgermeisters". www.landesarchiv-berlin.findbuch.net (in German). Landesarchiv Berlin. Retrieved 22 December 2025. Als Erste/Ständige Stellvertreter waren Alfred Neumann (April 1951 bis August 1953), Waldemar Schmidt (August 1953 bis November 1963), Kurt Thieme (November 1963 bis Juli 1967), Horst Hilbert (Juli 1967 bis Februar 1970), Gerhard Jung (Februar 1970 bis September 1974), Horst Palm (September 1974 bis Juni 1978), Hannelore Mensch (Juni 1978 bis Dezember 1989) und Roland Tränkner (März bis Mai 1990) tätig. […] In den 1980er Jahren unterstanden ihm weiterhin u. a. die Bildungsstätte des Magistrats, der Bereich Koordinierung von Großveranstaltungen, die Abteilung Verfolgte des Naziregimes (VdN), die Berlin-Information, die Kommission zur Betreuung verdienter Veteranen des Magistrats und die 1. Stellvertreter der Stadtbezirksbürgermeister.
↑"C Rep. 110 - Magistrat von Berlin, Bezirksbauamt Berlin". www.landesarchiv-berlin.findbuch.net (in German). Landesarchiv Berlin. Retrieved 22 December 2025. Mit Wirkung vom 11. April 1985 wurde Joachim Böttger abgelöst und Günter Schelle zum Bezirksbaudirektor berufen. Ihm folgten ab Juni 1986 Hans Lederer und ab Dezember 1987 Manfred Kurtzer, der das Amt bis 1990 inne hatte.
↑"C Rep. 107 - Magistrat von Berlin, Bezirksplankommission". www.landesarchiv-berlin.findbuch.net (in German). Landesarchiv Berlin. Retrieved 22 December 2025. Ab 1979 war Eberhard Ahrens Vorsitzender der Bezirksplankommission, der im September 1980 von Walter Scholz abgelöst wurde. Sein Nachfolger war seit Juli 1984 Hans-Günter Burbach. Im Juni 1986 wurde Wolfgang Puppe Stellvertreter des Oberbürgermeisters und Vorsitzender der Bezirksplankommission. Ab April 1989 hatte Ingrid Pankraz diese Funktion inne. Mit Wirkung vom 13. März 1990 wurde die Bezeichnung für die Bezirksplankommission in "Amt für Regionalentwicklung" geändert.
↑"C Rep. 104 Magistrat von Berlin, Bereich Inneres (Bestand)". www.archivportal-d.de (in German). Archivportal-D. Retrieved 22 December 2025. Für die Aufgaben der inneren Sicherheit und Ordnung ist am 1. März 1955 die Magistratsabteilung "Innere Angelegenheiten" gebildet worden, die Zuständigkeiten aus den Bereichen "Oberbürgermeister", "Erster Stellvertreter des Oberbürgermeisters" und "Sekretär des Magistrats" übernahm. Der ebenfalls neu eingesetzte Stadtrat war zugleich Stellvertreter des Oberbürgermeisters für den Bereich Inneres und zunächst auch für den Bereich Kader (bis 1965). Erster Stadtrat wurde Wilhelm Thiele, der 1957 von Hermann Gloth abgelöst wurde. Diesem folgte ab Mai 1960 Kurt Helbig im Amt. Er wurde am 17. Oktober 1976 von Günter Hoffmann abgelöst, der bis 1990 amtierte. Dem Stadtrat für Inneres oblagen alle Aufgaben zur Festigung der sozialistischen Gesetzlichkeit und zur Zurückdrängung der Kriminalität. Er war zuständig für die Förderung der Verteidigungsbereitschaft, den Luftschutz, den Selbstschutz der Bevölkerung, den Schutz der Staatsgrenze nach Berlin (West), den Brand- und Katastrophenschutz, die Verkehrssicherheit und für die Umsetzung der staatlichen Politik in Kirchenfragen. Der Stadtrat trug die Verantwortung für die Zusammenarbeit mit anderen Behörden des Sicherheits- und Rechtsbereichs und mit den bewaffneten Organen der DDR.
↑"Chronik der DDR Dienstag 19. Dezember 1989". www.ddr89.de (in German). Retrieved 22 December 2025. Wie der Stellvertreter des Oberbürgermeisters für Umweltschutz, Erholungswesen und Tourismus, Parteifreund Roland Tränkner, im Anschluss der Presse mitteilte, sei weiterhin an quartalsweisen Umweltforen sowie gemeinsame Umwelttage mit Westberliner Partnern gedacht.
↑"C Rep. 118 Magistrat von Berlin, Abteilung Gesundheits- und Sozialwesen (Bestand)". www.archivportal-d.de (in German). Archivportal-D. Retrieved 22 December 2025. Erster Leiter dieser Abteilung wurde der Stadtrat Herbert Fechner; ihm folgten im Amt K. Höck (1962), Otto Dudzus (1963-1967), Reimer Schorr (1967-1975), Gerhard Jacob (1975-1986) und Geerd Dellas (1987-1990). Ab 1962 führte der Stadtrat zugleich den Titel "Bezirksarzt".
↑"C Rep. 114 Magistrat von Berlin, Abteilung Verkehr". www.landesarchiv-berlin.findbuch.net (in German). Landesarchiv Berlin. Retrieved 22 December 2025. Im Dezember 1978 löste ihn Alfred Köhler in dieser Funktion ab. […] Mit der Wahlperiode ab 1986 übernahm am 24. Juni Günter Manow die Funktion des "Stellvertreters des Oberbürgermeisters für Verkehrs- und Nachrichtenwesen", der 1989 im Amt bestätigt wurde.
↑"C Rep. 121 - Magistrat von Berlin, Abteilung Kultur". www.landesarchiv-berlin.findbuch.net (in German). Landesarchiv Berlin. Retrieved 22 December 2025. 1960 wurde die bisher einem „Stadtrat für Volksbildung und Kultur" zugeordnete Abteilung Kultur aus diesem Bereich herausgelöst und gesondert dem Stellvertreter des Oberbürgermeisters, Stadtrat Fritz Wolff, unterstellt. Nach der Wahl zur Stadtverordnetenversammlung vom 20. Oktober 1963 wurde Ernst Hoffmann Stadtrat für Kultur. Ab Juli 1967 war Horst Ostwald Stadtrat und Leiter der Abteilung Kultur, dann folgten von Juni 1978 bis Januar 1985 Jürgen Schuchardt, danach Helga Rönsch. Im Juni 1986 wählte die Stadtverordnetenversammlung Christian Hartenhauer zum Stadtrat für Kultur, der diese Funktion bis zu seiner Wahl zum Berliner Oberbürgermeister am 23. Februar 1990 innehatte.
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