The East German passport was issued to citizens of the former German Democratic Republic (commonly known as

East Germany East Germany, officially the German Democratic Republic (GDR; german: Deutsche Demokratische Republik, , DDR, ), was a country that existed from its creation on 7 October 1949 until its dissolution on 3 October 1990. In these years the state ...

) for international travel. Since the

reunification A political union is a type of political entity which is composed of, or created from, smaller polities, or the process which achieves this. These smaller polities are usually called federated states and federal territories in a federal governm ...

of Germany in October 1990, all German citizens have been issued

German passport German passport (, ) are issued to nationals(for example, G01E) of Germany for the purpose of international travel. A German passport is, besides the German ID card and the German Emergency Travel Document (called " Reiseausweis als Passersatz" ...

Overview

According to a ''

Washington Post ''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large nati ...

'' report in 1989, only 25% of East Germans were passport holders. According to an East German passport law in 1957, East German citizens needed a exit visa from GDR to travel abroad, including

West Germany West Germany is the colloquial term used to indicate the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG; german: Bundesrepublik Deutschland , BRD) between its formation on 23 May 1949 and the German reunification through the accession of East Germany on 3 O ...

and

West Berlin West Berlin (german: Berlin (West) or , ) was a political enclave which comprised the western part of Berlin during the years of the Cold War. Although West Berlin was de jure not part of West Germany, lacked any sovereignty, and was under mi ...

. The penalty for making an unauthorized journey outside East Germany was imprisonment. Once they returned from their travels, the passports needed to be turned in.

Types of passports

There were at least four types of passports: alien, service, standard, and diplomatic. While standard passports were blue in color, alien and service passports were in different shades of green. Diplomatic passports were in red.

Languages

East German passports contained text in German, French, English, and Russian. English, however, was omitted from the passport after a revision in or around 1988.

Passport note

East German passports contained a note to the effect that: ::''The Ministry of Foreign Affairs asks all authorities both inland and abroad to let the bearer of this passport travel freely and to grant him any protection and assistance that he might require.'' Versions issued in late 1989 forward to the country's demise in October 1990 omit the note.

Following reunification

Following reunification in October 1990, the Unification Treaty provided that East German passports would remain in force until, at the latest, 31 December 1995. After that date, East German passports were invalid for identification and citizens had to use

References

Government of East Germany Defunct passports Foreign relations of East Germany {{Germany-stub