West Berlin

West Berlin was the name given to the western part of Berlin between 1949 and 1990. It consisted of the American, British, and French occupation sectors that were established in 1945. The Soviet sector became East Berlin, part of East Germany. Officially West Berlin was called Berlin (West) by West Germany while the East German government referred to West Berlin as Westberlin. (East Berlin was officially called Berlin Hauptstadt der DDR - "Berlin capital of the GDR" - by East Germany.)

Legal status

According the legal theory followed by the western allies, the occupation of most of Germany ended in 1949 with the declaration of the Federal Republic of Germany and the German Democratic Republic. However, because the occupation of Berlin could only be ended by a four-party agreement, Berlin remained occupied territory under the formal sovereignty of the allies. (The Soviets unilaterally declared the occupation of East Berlin at an end along with the rest of East Germany, but this move was not recognized by the western allies.)

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In many ways, West Berlin functioned as a de facto part of West Germany, and was portrayed on maps as being a part of that state. Inhabitants of West Berlin were West German citizens, and there was freedom of movement (to the extent allowed by geography) between West Berlin and West Germany.

Related Topics:
De facto - West Germany

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But the western allies remained the ultimate political authorities there. West Berlin was run by an elected Mayor and city government at Rathaus Schöneberg, but this government formally derived its authority from the occupying forces, not its electoral mandate. West Berlin was not considered to be a Bundesland, nor part of one, and the Grundgesetz (constitution of the Federal Republic) had no application there.

Related Topics:
Rathaus Schöneberg - Bundesland - Grundgesetz

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This meant that West Berliners were not eligible to vote in federal elections; instead, they were indirectly represented in the Bundestag by 20 non-voting delegates chosen by the West Berlin House of Representatives. Similarly, the West Berlin Senate sent non-voting delegates to the Bundesrat. However as citizens of the Federal Republic, West Berliners could still be elected from party lists to the proportional seats in the Bundestag, and in fact West Berlin Mayor Willy Brandt became Chancellor through this method in 1969.

Related Topics:
Bundestag - Bundesrat - Willy Brandt - Chancellor

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The ambiguous status of West Berlin also meant that men there were exempt from the Federal Republic's compulsory military service; this exemption made the city a popular home for West German youths, which resulted in a flourishing counterculture that became one of the defining features of the city.

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Other anomalies included "provisional ID cards" without the German coat of arms, a ban on Lufthansa flights to the city, and a West Berlin postal administration, separate from West Germany's, which issued its own postage stamps until 1990.

Related Topics:
Lufthansa - Postage stamps

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