East Germany

East Germany, formally the German Democratic Republic or GDR (German: Deutsche Demokratische Republik, ([ˈdɔʏtʃə demoˈkʀaːtɪʃə ʀepuˈbliːk]) or DDR), was a state in the Eastern Bloc during the Cold War period. From 1949 to 1990, it administered the region of Germany that was occupied by Soviet forces at the end of World War II—the Soviet Occupation Zone of the Potsdam Agreement, bounded on the east by the Oder–Neisse line. The Soviet zone surrounded West Berlin, but did not include it; as a result, West Berlin remained outside the jurisdiction of the GDR.

The German Democratic Republic was established in the Soviet Zone, while the Federal Republic was established in the three western zones. The East was often described as a satellite state of the Soviet Union. Soviet occupation authorities began transferring administrative responsibility to German communist leaders in 1948, and the GDR began to function as a state on 7 October 1949. Soviet forces, however, remained in the country throughout the Cold War. The GDR established the Ministry for State Security, or "Stasi", which aided the Soviet Army in suppressing uprisings in 1953. Until 1989, the GDR was governed by the Socialist Unity Party (SED), though other parties nominally participated in its alliance organisation, the National Front of Democratic Germany.

List of Germans

This is a list of notable Germans or German-speaking or -writing persons. Persons of mixed heritage have their respective ancestries credited.

Architects

Artists

A–M

Germans

Germans (German: Deutsche) are a Germanic ethnic group native to Central Europe, who share a common German ancestry, culture and history, and speak the German language as their native language. Alternatively, Germans are those who live or were born in Germany.

The English term Germans has historically referred to the German-speaking population of the Holy Roman Empire since the Late Middle Ages. Before the collapse of communism and the reunification of Germany in 1990, Germans constituted the largest divided nation in Europe by far. Ever since the outbreak of the Protestant Reformation within the Holy Roman Empire, German society has been characterized by a Catholic-Protestant divide.

Of approximately 100 million native speakers of German in the world, roughly 80 million consider themselves Germans. There are an additional 80 million people of German ancestry mainly in the United States, Brazil (mainly in the South Region of the country), Argentina, Canada, South Africa, the post-Soviet states (mainly in Russia and Kazakhstan), and France, each accounting for at least 1 million. Thus, the total number of Germans lies somewhere between 100 and more than 150 million, depending on the criteria applied (native speakers, single-ancestry ethnic Germans, partial German ancestry, etc.).

German

German(s) may refer to:

Places

People

Mythological beings

Germans (band)

Germans were a Canadian indie rock band whose members included Julian Kado, Roman Harrison, Livingston Fagan,Aidan Koper, Steven Lappano, Jesse Foster, Michael Rozenberg, and Leon Taheny. They are signed to Portland, Oregon-based label Arena Rock Recording Co. Based in Toronto, the bandmembers are from various nearby Ontario cities: Mississauga, Richmond Hill, and Guelph.

Critics have noted that the music is reminiscent of 1990s indie rock, and, in their "Artist of the Day" feature, Spin magazine compared the band's music to 1990s indie rock band Archers of Loaf. Taheny has cited the band Pavement as a significant influence. Most of the band members contributed to the 2006 Polaris Music Prize-winning album He Poos Clouds by Final Fantasy, which Taheny produced.

Their track "I Am the Teacher" has been in rotation at CBC Radio 3, and played on the CBC Radio 3 podcast. The band is touring the U.S. and Canada in early 2007.

Band member Aidan Koper appeared on the Late Show with David Letterman, performing a "Stupid Human Trick" in which he contorted his body through a tennis racquet while juggling.