West Berlin

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For other uses, see West Berlin (disambiguation).

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West Berlin

West-Berlin
Berlin-Ouest
Berlin (West)

1949–1990

Flag

Coat of arms
 The four occupation sectors of Berlin. West Berlin is in light blue, dark
blue, and purple, with several exclaves shown. Borough borders are as of
1987.

Status Western Allies-occupied sectors of Berlin

Official languages German

Religion Christianity(Evangelical, Catholic), Islam, Judaism

Governing Mayor

• 1948–1953 (first) Ernst Reuter (SPD)

• 1989–1990 (last) Walter Momper (SPD)

Historical era Cold War

• End of the Berlin 12 May 1949

Blockade

• Reunification 3 October 1990

Preceded by Succeeded by
Allied-occupied Germany
Germany Berlin

Today part of Germany

 Part of a series on the

History of Berlin

Margraviate of Brandenburg (1157–1806)

Kingdom of Prussia (1701–1918)

German Empire (1871–1918)

Free State of Prussia (1918–1947)

Weimar Republic (1919–1933)

 1920s Berlin
 Greater Berlin Act

Nazi Germany (1933–1945)

 Welthauptstadt Germania
 Bombing of Berlin in World War II
 Battle of Berlin

West Germany and East Germany (1945–1990)

 West Berlin and East Berlin

 Berlin Wall
 Berlin Blockade (1948–1949)
 Berlin Crisis of 1961
 "Ich bin ein Berliner" (1963)
 "Tear Down This Wall" (1987)

Federal Republic of Germany(1990–present)

 History of Germany and History of Europe

See also
  Timeline of Berlin

 v
 t
 e

West Berlin (German: Berlin (West) or colloquially West-Berlin) was a

political enclave which comprised the western part of Berlin during the years of the Cold
War. There was no specific date on which the sectors of Berlin occupied by the Western
Allies became "West Berlin", but 1949 is widely accepted as the year in which the name
was adopted. West Berlin aligned itself politically with the Federal Republic of
Germany (called the "Bonn Republic" by historians) and was directly or indirectly
represented in its federal institutions.
West Berlin was formally controlled by the Western Allies and was entirely surrounded by
the Soviet-controlled East Berlin and East Germany. West Berlin had great symbolic
significance during the Cold War, as it was widely considered by westerners as an "island
of freedom". It was heavily subsidised by West Germany as a "showcase of the West".[1] A
wealthy city, West Berlin was noted for its distinctly cosmopolitan character, and as a
centre of education, research and culture. With about two million inhabitants, West Berlin
had the largest population of any city in Germany during the Cold War era.[2]
West Berlin was 100 miles (161 kilometres) east and north of the Inner German borderand
only accessible by land from West Germany by narrow rail and highway corridors. It
consisted of the American, British, and French occupation sectors established in 1945.
The Berlin Wall, built in 1961, physically separated West Berlin from its East Berlin and
East German surroundings until it fell in 1989.[3] On 3 October 1990, the day Germany was
officially reunified, East and West Berlin formally reunited as the city of Berlin.