After 1945 the western two thirds of Germany was divided into four military occupation zones. In the central region, administered as the Soviet occupation zone, "John Schehr und Genossen" quickly became widely known, and the late John Schehr was quickly elevated to the status of a national icon. There was a pressing need to rename all the streets which since 1933 had been named after National Socialist leaders and characters from their pantheon of German nationalist heroes. Across the region (which in October 1949 was relaunched as the Soviet sponsored the German Democratic Republic (East Germany), the authorities in towns and cities renamed streets, public buildings and other public structures after John Schehr.