East German citizenship

The Volkskammer establishes a separate DDR citizenship

The constitutions of both West Germany and East Germany (DDR) foresaw the eventual reunification of the two German states; one as a socialist state, the other as a market economy. The East German state even stipulated the continued existence of a single German nationality.

The development of the Cold War rendered these hopes improbable by the mid-1960s. Seeking to foster a separate East German identity and establish the DDR as a sovereign state, the East German Parliament passed a law establishing a separate DDR citizenship. The West German state still viewed their East German cousins as fellow Germans.