Stages along the way to German unity - a chronology
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Standing packed on the wall near Brandenburg Gate
(© dpa - Bildarchiv)
Rigged elections, an unprecedented wave of emigration and mass demonstrations led within a few months to the collapse of the power structures of the German Democratic Republic in 1989. After the resignation on October 18 of the head of state and of the communist party, Erich Honecker, and the fall of the Berlin Wall at the beginning of November, a rapid unification process was set in train. Below are the most important stages:
9 November 1989: Politburo member Guenter Schabowski mentions, apparently in passing, that the borders have been opened with immediate effect. Not long afterwards thousands of East Germans flood across the borders. After 28 years, the Berlin Wall comes down.
13 November 1989: Dresden party head Hans Modrow is tasked by the East German parliament with forming a new government. At the mass demonstrations that have been running for months there are banners reading "Germany united fatherland".
3 December 1989: Under pressure from the party rank and file, the politburo and the central committee resign.
7 December 1989: A round table - a forum of representatives from old and new parties and organisations - convenes under the auspices of church representatives to put forward proposals to resolve the national crisis.
19 December 1989: West German Chancellor Helmut Kohl arrives on his first official visit to the East Germany. In Dresden he is enthusiastically received with calls of "Helmut, Helmut" and chants of "Germany united fatherland".
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(© dpa - Bildarchiv)
15 January 1990: Some 2,000 demonstrators storm the headquarters of the Stasi secret police in East Berlin while 100,000 demonstrate in front of the building.
28 January 1990: Representatives of the political parties agree on the formation of a transitional government. Representatives of civil rights groups are part of the round-table talks.
1 February 1990: Modrow as prime minister puts forward a draft for German unity to parliament based on military neutrality and a federal structure.
7 February 1990: The West German government decides to offer East Germany immediate talks on a currency union.
18 March 1990: The first free elections take place in East Germany, with a conservative alliance headed by the Christian Democratic Union taking a clear victory.
12 April 1990: The first freely elected East German parliament elects Lothar de Maiziere (CDU) as prime minister.
23 April 1990: The West German government agrees on the basis of a treaty for currency union.
5 May 1990:First round of talks of the Two-plus-Four conferences gets underway with the six foreign ministers of the United States, the Soviet Union, the United Kingdom, France, West Germany and East Germany in Bonn. The main point of discussion is that of allegiance.
18 May 1990: Signing of a treaty for economic, currency and social union. Kohl sees this as "the birth of a free and united Germany".
1 July 1990: Currency union implemented. East Germany changes to the D-Mark. People crossing the inner-German border are no longer subject to controls.
2 July 1990: Discussions begin in East Berlin regarding the second treaty, the Unification Treaty.
16 July 1990: Kohl and Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev announce a breakthrough in the alliance issue. Germany is to remain a member of NATO after reunification.
22 July 1990: The East German parliament approves legislation on re-establishing the states within the country.
23 August 1990: The East German parliament approves the accession of the German Democratic Republic to the Federal Republic of Germany (West Germany) from October 3.
31 August 1990: The unification treaty is signed in East Berlin. Both parliaments ratify the treaty on September 20 by two-thirds majorities.
24 September 1990: East Germany leaves the Warsaw Pact.
1 October 1990: Germany becomes fully sovereign. The Allies' special rights in Berlin are abolished as from 3 October.
3 October 1990: At midnight Germany's black, red and gold flag is hoisted in front of the Reichstag to the strains of the national anthem, as hundreds of thousands celebrate on the streets of Berlin and in other cities.
