Process in 1990 in which the German Democratic Republic became part of the Federal Republic of Germany
German reunification on 3 October 1990 ended four decades of division, dissolving the GDR and integrating its states into the Federal Republic of Germany.
Key Facts
- Reunification date
- 3 October 1990
- Process began
- 9 November 1989 (fall of Berlin Wall)
- First free GDR elections
- 18 March 1990
- Full sovereignty granted
- 15 March 1991 via Treaty on Final Settlement
- Last Russian troops left
- 31 August 1994
- National holiday established
- German Unity Day, 3 October annually
By the Numbers
Location
Cause → Event → Consequence
The East German government began to lose control after Hungary opened its border with Austria on 2 May 1989, allowing thousands of East Germans to flee westward. The Peaceful Revolution, driven by mass protests, accelerated the collapse of the SED regime and brought down the Berlin Wall on 9 November 1989, setting reunification in motion.
Following the GDR's first free elections in March 1990, negotiations between the two German states produced a Unification Treaty. On 3 October 1990, the German Democratic Republic was dissolved and its reconstituted federated states were integrated into the Federal Republic of Germany, reuniting the nation after more than four decades of division.
The reunited Germany, an enlarged continuation of the West German state, retained membership in NATO, the EU, and the UN while withdrawing from the Warsaw Pact. Full sovereignty was conferred on 15 March 1991 under the Two Plus Four Treaty, and East and West Berlin were merged into a single capital city, reshaping the political order of post-Cold War Europe.