The German Democratic Republic (GDR), founded 7 October 1949 in the Soviet occupation zone of postwar Germany as a Marxist-Leninist one-party state aligned with the Eastern Bloc, distinct from the Federal Republic (West Germany) founded the same year in the Western zones. Divided from West Berlin/West Germany by the Berlin Wall (built 1961) for most of its existence.
Dissolved 3 October 1990 when its territory acceded to the Federal Republic of Germany (German reunification), following the peaceful 1989 revolution and the fall of the Berlin Wall.
Widely read account of life under East German state surveillance, a strong reader-facing entry point.
Accessible narrative history of the Wall that defined the GDR's international image.