West Germany

American  

noun

1. a former republic in central Europe: created in 1949 by the coalescing of the British, French, and U.S. zones of occupied Germany established in 1945. 96,025 sq. mi. (248,706 sq. km). Bonn.

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West Germany British  

noun

1. Official name: Federal Republic of Germany.  a former republic in N central Europe, on the North Sea: established in 1949 from the zones of Germany occupied by the British, Americans, and French after the defeat of Nazi Germany; a member of the European Community; reunited with East Germany in 1990 See also Germany

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West Germany Cultural  

1. Popular name for the Federal Republic of Germany before the reunification of Germany in 1990. Bonn was the seat of its government.

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The Bonn Convention in 1952 essentially granted West Germany national sovereignty. In 1955, West Germany was recognized as an independent country.

It made a swift recovery, called the “economic miracle” from the devastation of World War II.

With the collapse of communism, West Germany absorbed East Germany. Berlin became the capital of the united Germany.

Established in 1949, after dissension between the United States and the Soviet Union led to the division of Germany into East Germany and West Germany, it was formed out of the states included in the American, French, and British occupation zones.

West Germany was a member of NATO.

Other Word Forms

• West German
  adjective

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

• East Germany vs. West Germany

Example Sentences

Before the fall of Communism and German unification, West Germany had a saying: “Bonn ist nicht Weimar.”

From Salon • May 18, 2026

Obviously I remember England's win over West Germany in 1966, but I was only eight at the time.

From BBC • Apr. 24, 2026

Breuer joined the army of what was then West Germany in 1984, when he was 19.

From BBC • Mar. 27, 2026

Georg Schild, a history professor at Tübingen University, near Stuttgart, remembers watching annual exercises by the U.S. military every fall when he was growing up in West Germany in the 1960s.

From The Wall Street Journal • Jan. 27, 2026

The Christian Democratic Union, a non-Communist party pushing for reunification with West Germany, emerged victorious.

From "Spies: The Secret Showdown Between America and Russia" by Marc Favreau