West Germany (German: Westdeutschland) is a common English name for the period of the Federal Republic of Germany (German: Bundesrepublik Deutschland, BRD) between its formation in May 1949 to German reunification in October 1990, when the (East) German Democratic Republic was dissolved and the five states on its territory joined the Federal Republic of Germany, ending the more than 40-year division of Germany and Berlin. From the 1990 reunificat...
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West Germany (German: Westdeutschland) is a common English name for the period of the Federal Republic of Germany (German: Bundesrepublik Deutschland, BRD) between its formation in May 1949 to German reunification in October 1990, when the (East) German Democratic Republic was dissolved and the five states on its territory joined the Federal Republic of Germany, ending the more than 40-year division of Germany and Berlin. From the 1990 reunification onwards, the enlarged Federal Republic of Germany with sixteen states has been exclusively known as Germany in common usage.
The Federal Republic of Germany was organized from the initially 12 states formed in the three Western Zones or Allied Zones of occupation held by the United States, the United Kingdom, and France. Bonn was selected as its provisional capital city, rather than the enclave of West Berlin which had a special status, but practically was part of the Federal Republic. The fourth Allied occupation zone or East Zone ...
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