The national emblem of East Germany featured a hammer and a

compass A compass is a device that shows the cardinal directions used for navigation and geographic orientation. It commonly consists of a magnetized needle or other element, such as a compass card or compass rose, which can pivot to align itself wit ...

, surrounded by a ring of rye. It was an example of what has been called " socialist heraldry". It was the only heraldic device of a European socialist state with a ring of grain which does not contain a red star.

Description

The hammer represented the workers in the

factories A factory, manufacturing plant or a production plant is an industrial facility, often a complex consisting of several buildings filled with machinery, where workers manufacture items or operate machines which process each item into another. T ...

. The compass represented the intelligentsia, and the ring of rye the

farmer A farmer is a person engaged in agriculture, raising living organisms for food or raw materials. The term usually applies to people who do some combination of raising field crops, orchards, vineyards, poultry, or other livestock. A farmer m ...

s. The first designs included only the hammer and ring of rye, as an expression of the GDR as a communist "Workers' and Farmers' state" (''Arbeiter- und Bauernstaat''). Surrounded by a

wreath A wreath () is an assortment of flowers, leaves, fruits, twigs, or various materials that is constructed to form a circle . In English-speaking countries, wreaths are used typically as household ornaments, most commonly as an Advent and Chri ...

, the national emblem also acted as the emblem for the

National People's Army The National People's Army (german: Nationale Volksarmee, ; NVA ) were the armed forces of the German Democratic Republic (GDR) from 1956 to 1990. The NVA was organized into four branches: the (Ground Forces), the (Navy), the (Air Force) a ...

, and when surrounded by a twelve pointed white star, for the People's Police. When the federated states in East Germany were abolished and replaced by '' Bezirke'', making the GDR into a

unitary state A unitary state is a sovereign state governed as a single entity in which the central government is the supreme authority. The central government may create (or abolish) administrative divisions (sub-national units). Such units exercise only ...

, the national emblem came to be used by the ''Bezirke'' too. The East German government did not want regional symbols to be used, since they could stir up regional patriotism and movements for independence. The emblem was adopted as the GDR's national emblem by a law of 26 September 1955, and added to the national flag by a law of 1 October 1959.

The emblem in West Germany

The display of the national emblem was for some years regarded as unconstitutional in

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 ...

and was prevented by the police. Only in 1969 did the West German government of

Willy Brandt Willy Brandt (; born Herbert Ernst Karl Frahm; 18 December 1913 – 8 October 1992) was a German politician and statesman who was leader of the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD) from 1964 to 1987 and served as the chancellor of West Ge ...

reverse this policy in what was known as

Ostpolitik ''Neue Ostpolitik'' (German for "new eastern policy"), or ''Ostpolitik'' for short, was the normalization of relations between the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG, or West Germany) and Eastern Europe, particularly the German Democratic Republ ...

1990

After the ruling Socialist Unity Party fell from power, the political progress of ''

die Wende The Peaceful Revolution (german: Friedliche Revolution), as a part of the Revolutions of 1989, was the process of sociopolitical change that led to the opening of East Germany's borders with the West, the end of the ruling of the Socialist Unity ...

'' saw suggestions for a new national emblem. One prominent suggestion was an image of a smith remaking a sword to a plough along with the text "" (German for "swords to ploughshares", from

Isaiah Isaiah ( or ; he, , ''Yəšaʿyāhū'', "God is Salvation"), also known as Isaias, was the 8th-century BC Israelite prophet after whom the Book of Isaiah is named. Within the text of the Book of Isaiah, Isaiah himself is referred to as "the ...

2:3–4), a well known symbol of peace. On 31 May the newly elected parliament (the ) decided, at a suggestion from the conservative German Social Union party, that all images of the national emblem on public buildings would be removed or covered. There was never a decision made for a new national coat of arms or emblem. The emblem was never formally abolished but became obsolete on the same moment the German Democratic Republic was dissolved, on 3 October 1990.

Gallery

File:Coat of Arms of East Germany (1950–1953).svg, National Emblem of the GDR (12 January 1950 – 28 May 1953) File:State arms of German Democratic Republic (1953-1955).svg, National Emblem of the GDR (28 May 1953 – 26 September 1955) File:Coat of arms of East Germany.svg, National Emblem of the GDR File:Staatswappen der Deutschen Demokratischen Republik.jpg, Official gazetted version published in the ''Gesetzblatt der Deutschen Demokratischen Republik'', 27 October 1955 File:Emblem of East Germany (stylized).svg, Stylised version: Commonly used on printed materials.

References

Bibliography

External links

{{Commons category, Coats of arms of the German Democratic Republic
Gesetz über das Staatswappen und die Staatsflagge der Deutschen Demokratischen Republik

1950 establishments in East Germany Symbols introduced in 1950

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 ...

Germany, East National symbols of East Germany