page_title: Administrative divisions of East Germany
section_title: General background
hierarchical_section_title: Administrative divisions of East Germany / Division into Länder / General background
caption_attribution_description: Deutsch: Länder nach Gründung der Bundesrepublik und der DDR. Saargebiet und West-Berlin haben Sonderstatus. Blau: Bundesrepublik Deutschland Rot: Deutsche Demokratische Republik Gelb: West-Berlin (bei den Alliierten nicht als Bundesland der BRD anerkannt) Mauve: Saarland (französisches Protektorat mit einer eigenen Regierung bis 1956) Versionsgeschichte siehe http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bild:Deutschland_Bundeslaender_1949.png.
context_page_description: The administrative divisions of the German Democratic Republic were constituted in two different forms during the country's history. The GDR first retained the traditional German division into federated states called Länder, but in 1952 they were replaced with districts called Bezirke. Immediately before German reunification in 1990, the Länder were restored, but they were not effectively reconstituted until after reunification had completed.
context_section_description: In May 1945, following its defeat in World War II, Germany was occupied by the United States, Britain, France and the Soviet Union. All four occupation powers reorganised the territories by recreating the Länder (states), the constituting parts of federal Germany. The state of Prussia, whose provinces extended to all four zones and covered two thirds of Germany, was abolished in 1947.
  Special conditions were assigned to Berlin, which the four powers divided into four sectors. A united German state government existed in the city until it broke apart in 1948. After 1949, both West Berlin and East Berlin (officially only called Berlin) were in effect incorporated into the Federal Republic of Germany and the German Democratic Republic, respectively, despite not legally being part of these countries.
caption: The GDR (in red) with its original Länder.
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