German Democratic Republic, abbreviated GDR, is the official international name for the Deutsche Demokratische Republik, abbreviated DDR, which most people know simply as East Germany.
It originates from the former part of Germany that was mainly occupied by Soviet forces after World War II (the former Soviet zone) and existed from 1949-10-07 until 1990-10-03. Since then, October 3rd has been a public holiday called "Tag der Deutschen Eineit". However, the actual event most people have in mind was the so-called "Fall of the Berlin Wall", the opening of the border between East and West Germany on 1989-11-09.
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