When and how was West/East-German citizenship determined in the early years of post-war Germany?
score:6
Were they West-German citizens, or was Germany still in some kind of limbo-state where there was no difference between West/East-citizenship?
There was never a West-German citizenship.
Before 1913, citizenship was based on the provisions of the North German Confederation citizenship law of 1870.
Until 2000-01-01, German citizenship was based on the Reichs- und Staatsangehörigkeitsgesetz of 1913, when the Staatsangehörigkeitsgesetz (StAG) was then introduced.
Until 1934-02-05, German citizenship (first introduced in 1870) was based on the citizenship of a German federal state. (Similar in nature to the European Union citizenship today) The state citizenship was abolished and replaced with a single citizenship.
The first GDR constitution of 1949 (valid until 1968) recognised the uniform German citizenship.
A DDR (GDR, East German) citizenship was introduced in 1967.
At this point [1954], what citizenship would her parents and her have had?
German citizenship.
At what point would they have become East Germans
1967-02-20
Would Merkel and her family possibly have been able to easily move West again, because they were still West German citizens even after the GDR closed down
There was no general rule for this.
It is known that many people who (often for ideological reasons), even after 1961, had moved to East Germany were allowed to return if they became dissatisfied with the realities of everyday life.
and how would that have related to their being prevented from leaving the country?
After 1967, §13 StBüG allowed for the citizenship to be revoked for gross violation of civic duties.
This method was often used for the removal of antisozialistischer Elemente (anti-socialist elements). Wolf Biermann is a well known sample of how this was used even against the will of the person concerned.
So on 1967-02-20, every German citizen who had their primary residence in the territory of the GDR was from then on considered a citizen of the GDR by the GDR?
In German there are 2 different terms, which when translated into English often use the same word (Citizen).
The opposite page of the 1954 ID Card contains:
- Bürger der Deutschen Demokratischen Republik
- Citizen of the German Democratic Republic
- für Deutsche Staatsangehörige
- for German Citizens
Did the FRG recognize this [GDR Citizenship] in any way
The Federal Republic never recognized it as a separate citizenship. They did recognized the issued documents (ID card or later passport), but treated them as German citizens.
or did they still claim them as citizens, too?
The Federal Republic recognized their right, based on Artical 116 of the Basic Law, to claim German citizenship.
This lead to the situation that after entering the Federal territory (West Germany), they could be issued a (West) German passport and travel on to other countries. To avoid problems when returning to East Germany, that passport could be returned/deposited for future use.
When did it become safe for Westerners to visit the East without risking being trapped there just like any Easterner would have been?
Until 1968-06-13 a passport was not required for for 'Westerners'. They traveled, where it was possible, with their ID cards (Personalausweis).
| 1953 ID (West) | 1954 ID (East), page 1 |
|---|---|
 |
 |
Due to the separate type of documents it was easy to determine who came from the West and who came from the East.
On 1968-06-13, the Passport and Visa requirement was introduced with the goal of treating people from Western Germany as foreigners.
| 1975 Visa in passport | 1954 ID (East), page 0 |
|---|---|
 |
 |
Sources:
- Reichs- und Staatsangehörigkeitsgesetz (RuStAG) von 1913 (only in German)
- Staatsbürgerschaft der DDR – Wikipedia (StBüG) (only in German)
- since 1967-02-20
- Staatsbürgerschaft der DDR – Wikipedia (StBüG) (only in German)
- BVA - Staatsangehörigkeit - Historie der wichtigsten Staatsangehörigkeitsgesetze (in German)
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