East Germany

American  

noun

1. a former country in central Europe: created in 1949 from the Soviet zone of occupied Germany established in 1945: reunited with West Germany in 1990. 41,827 sq. mi. (108,333 sq. km). East Berlin.

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East Germany British  

noun

1. Official name: German Democratic Republic.   DDR.   GDR.  a former republic in N central Europe: established in 1949 and declared a sovereign state by the Soviet Union in 1954; Communist regime replaced by a multiparty democracy in 1989; reunited with West Germany in 1990 See also Germany

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East Germany Cultural  

1. Former nation in north-central Europe, officially known as the German Democratic Republic from 1949 to 1990, when East and West Germany were reunited. Its capital and largest city was East Berlin.

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The Berlin Wall (see also Berlin Wall) was erected in 1961 to keep East Germans from defecting to the West.

Former Eastern Bloc and Warsaw Pact nation, established as a republic in 1949; formed out of land in the zone of Germany occupied by the Soviet Union after World War II.

Although high for a communist nation, the East German living standard lagged far behind that of western Europe. Popular protests for democracy forced the communist government to open the Berlin Wall in 1989 and allow its citizens to migrate to West Germany. Unable to resist the tide of reform sweeping across communist states, the East German government agreed in 1990 to the reunification of Germany under the leadership of West Germany.

Other Word Forms

• East German adjective

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How does east-germany compare to similar and commonly confused words? Explore the most common comparisons:

• East Germany vs. West Germany

Example Sentences

When Vladimir Putin was elected president of Russia in 2000, a reporter asked what he did as a KGB case officer in Dresden, East Germany.

From The Wall Street Journal • Jan. 22, 2026

In winning the title, she became the first woman since 1985 to break the 48-second barrier and nearly eclipsed a 41-year-old world record set by Marita Koch of the former East Germany.

From Barron's • Jan. 22, 2026

In 1952, after World War II ended and the family found itself living in the newly created German Democratic Republic, East Germany, they all fled to West Germany.

From Los Angeles Times • Nov. 18, 2025

If you look at wealth, employment, wages, you would see these same borders, with East Germany being far behind the West in all of these areas.

From Slate • Feb. 25, 2025

She left her family back in what was the old East Germany to make enough money to send for her husband and three grown children.

From "Native Speaker" by Chang-rae Lee