BRD
Encyclopedia
BRD was an unofficial Cold War
-era abbreviation for the Federal Republic of Germany
. It is now uncommon, but was used consistently by the German Democratic Republic
(East Germany) between 1968 and 1990 to refer to what was generally known in English as West Germany
. Unlike the English counterpart FRG, which used as an IOC country code and a FIFA trigramme, the use of BRD was discouraged by the authorities of the Federal Republic of Germany itself, because it was considered to be derogatory communist jargon. The term was not banned by law, but its use was discouraged or forbidden in schools.
, then under allied control, to give in their adhesion to the new republic. In 1949 the initial eleven states in the Trizone and West Berlin
did so. However the latter was factually inhibited by Allied objection accounting for the status of the city as a quadripartite allied occupation area. The Saarland
gave in its adhesion with effect of 1 January 1957, while the then so-called New states of Germany did so with effect of 3 October 1990, including reunited Berlin.
So the term Germany had an importance as part of the official name, which is reflected in the naming conventions which developed in the Cold War
. Starting in June 1949 the abbreviation was sometimes used in the Federal Republic of Germany without any special connotations. The acronym BRD reached some frequency in West German scientific and ministerial use, so that it was added to the western edition of the German language dictionary Duden
in 1967. The German Democratic Republic at first used the name "West Germany
" (abbreviated "WD") for the Federal Republic of Germany. However, since the 1950s the communist authorities insisted on calling the Federal Republic of Germany "Deutsche Bundesrepublik" (abbreviated "DBR", i.e. German Federal Republic), because they considered the German Democratic Republic part of Germany too, and thus would not permit the democratic government in West Germany using the name "Germany".
However, this changed in 1968 with the new constitution of the German Democratic Republic. The communists no longer strove for German reunification, and the name "BRD" was introduced as a propagandistic
counter-term to the term "DDR", trying to express the equality of the states. Though the state designated by "BRD" was depicted like "the evil German state" in official GDR propaganda, the abbreviation itself was neutral. The GDR used the twin abbreviation "DDR" for herself without any problems (the West would thus speak of the "so-called 'DDR'" when it had to be belittled).
In 1965 the Federal Minister of All-German Affairs
issued the Directives for the appellation of Germany recommending to avoid the acronym. On 31 May 1974 the heads of German federal and states governments recommended to always use the full name in official publications. In November 1979 the federal government informed the Bundestag
that the West German public broadcasts ARD
and ZDF
agree to refuse using the acronym.
West Germany had always claimed to be the Germany, and she did not like the analogy to DDR, or two separate German states. This West German claim was also reflected in the Hallstein Doctrine
determining her foreign and interior policy until c. 1970. Starting in East German Neues Deutschland
the acronym BRD (FRG) for the Federal Republic of Germany prevailed since the early 1970s, while East German official sources adopted that acronym as standard expression in 1973.
The East German dropping of the idea of a single German nation was accompanied by skipping the terms Deutschland (Germany) and deutsch (German) in a number of terms. So using the abbreviation BRD (FRG) perfectly fitted in the official East German policy to silence about Germany. Thus in the West the acronym became even the more undesired and using it was often considered either unreflecting or even expressing naïve Communist sympathies. Because of this, the term "BRD" has since been considered communist jargon in the then West German Federal Republic of Germany.
So the acronym reached only occasional frequency in West German parlance. In order to be precise West Germans prevailingly used the terms Bundesrepublik or Bundesgebiet (federal republic, or federal territory, resp.), referring to the country and Bundesbürger (federal citizen[s]) as to its citizens, with the pertaining adjective bundesdeutsch (federally German).
To distance themselves from the term "BRD", the government of the Federal Republic of Germany officially used - if at all - the abbreviations BR Deutschland, BR Dt., BR Dtld. or simply Dtld. until German reunification
. After the hardly established federative states of the German Democratic Republic had given in their adhesion to the Federal Republic, "Germany" ("Deutschland") is always used as the official short name.
Some federal states, generally responsible for West German school education, already in the 1970s had recommended to skip the acronym in education. For example a decree by the educational authorities of the state of Schleswig-Holstein
of October 4, 1976 declares the term to be nicht wünschenswert, undesirable. The conference of all the states ministers for school education
decided on 12 February 1981 to not print the acronym in books, maps, and atlasses for schools. This was occasionally explained to pupils, when coming to Eastern and Western naming conventions for the Federal Republic of Germany. In many schools the term was sanctioned as an error. The different usages were so ingrained that one could deduce a person's or source's political leaning from the name used for West Germany.
However, as the Gesellschaft für deutsche Sprache
figured out, this debate on the acronym had little influence on changing the West German parlance with the usage of the acronym - anyway at a low frequency - not dwindling further due to the debate.
Some extreme right-wing groups, which do not recognise the current government of Germany, use the term "BRD" in the same way the communists used it, to express their view that the government of the Federal Republic of Germany is not the legitimate German government. Sometimes it is written "BRd" (to indicate the government only of a reduced Germany) in this context.
" . The naming of the German Democratic Republic was also a controversial issue, West Germans at first preferring the names Middle Germany
and "SBZ" (Soviet Occupation Zone), which was only changed under Willy Brandt
when the West Germans started using the official name, German Democratic Republic or "DDR". However, many German newspapers, for example those owned by the conservative Springer
company, always wrote "DDR" in scare quotes
until 1 August 1989.
Another example was the naming of the Soviet defence organisation. The official name was the Treaty of Warsaw but the West constantly called it the Warsaw Pact
. The uniformity in usage was such that the mere wording could tell you where a person got his news from.
Cold War
The Cold War was the continuing state from roughly 1946 to 1991 of political conflict, military tension, proxy wars, and economic competition between the Communist World—primarily the Soviet Union and its satellite states and allies—and the powers of the Western world, primarily the United States...
-era abbreviation for the Federal Republic of Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
. It is now uncommon, but was used consistently by the German Democratic Republic
German Democratic Republic
The German Democratic Republic , informally called East Germany by West Germany and other countries, was a socialist state established in 1949 in the Soviet zone of occupied Germany, including East Berlin of the Allied-occupied capital city...
(East Germany) between 1968 and 1990 to refer to what was generally known in English as West Germany
West Germany
West Germany is the common English, but not official, name for the Federal Republic of Germany or FRG in the period between its creation in May 1949 to German reunification on 3 October 1990....
. Unlike the English counterpart FRG, which used as an IOC country code and a FIFA trigramme, the use of BRD was discouraged by the authorities of the Federal Republic of Germany itself, because it was considered to be derogatory communist jargon. The term was not banned by law, but its use was discouraged or forbidden in schools.
History
The official name was and is Bundesrepublik Deutschland (Federal Republic of Germany). The name, even though in the beginning referring only to the state established in the Trizone, was to reflect a name for all of Germany, therefore it was particularly to include the term Deutschland (Germany). This corresponds to the spirit of the then West German constitution, the Grundgesetz, allowing all Länder (German federative states)States of Germany
Germany is made up of sixteen which are partly sovereign constituent states of the Federal Republic of Germany. Land literally translates as "country", and constitutionally speaking, they are constituent countries...
, then under allied control, to give in their adhesion to the new republic. In 1949 the initial eleven states in the Trizone and West Berlin
West Berlin
West Berlin was a political exclave that existed between 1949 and 1990. It comprised the western regions of Berlin, which were bordered by East Berlin and parts of East Germany. West Berlin consisted of the American, British, and French occupation sectors, which had been established in 1945...
did so. However the latter was factually inhibited by Allied objection accounting for the status of the city as a quadripartite allied occupation area. The Saarland
Saarland
Saarland is one of the sixteen states of Germany. The capital is Saarbrücken. It has an area of 2570 km² and 1,045,000 inhabitants. In both area and population, it is the smallest state in Germany other than the city-states...
gave in its adhesion with effect of 1 January 1957, while the then so-called New states of Germany did so with effect of 3 October 1990, including reunited Berlin.
So the term Germany had an importance as part of the official name, which is reflected in the naming conventions which developed in the Cold War
Cold War
The Cold War was the continuing state from roughly 1946 to 1991 of political conflict, military tension, proxy wars, and economic competition between the Communist World—primarily the Soviet Union and its satellite states and allies—and the powers of the Western world, primarily the United States...
. Starting in June 1949 the abbreviation was sometimes used in the Federal Republic of Germany without any special connotations. The acronym BRD reached some frequency in West German scientific and ministerial use, so that it was added to the western edition of the German language dictionary Duden
Duden
The Duden is a German dictionary, first published by Konrad Duden in 1880.Currently the Duden is in its 25th edition and published in 12 volumes, each covering different aspects like loan words, etymology, pronunciation, synonyms, etc...
in 1967. The German Democratic Republic at first used the name "West Germany
West Germany
West Germany is the common English, but not official, name for the Federal Republic of Germany or FRG in the period between its creation in May 1949 to German reunification on 3 October 1990....
" (abbreviated "WD") for the Federal Republic of Germany. However, since the 1950s the communist authorities insisted on calling the Federal Republic of Germany "Deutsche Bundesrepublik" (abbreviated "DBR", i.e. German Federal Republic), because they considered the German Democratic Republic part of Germany too, and thus would not permit the democratic government in West Germany using the name "Germany".
However, this changed in 1968 with the new constitution of the German Democratic Republic. The communists no longer strove for German reunification, and the name "BRD" was introduced as a propagandistic
Propaganda
Propaganda is a form of communication that is aimed at influencing the attitude of a community toward some cause or position so as to benefit oneself or one's group....
counter-term to the term "DDR", trying to express the equality of the states. Though the state designated by "BRD" was depicted like "the evil German state" in official GDR propaganda, the abbreviation itself was neutral. The GDR used the twin abbreviation "DDR" for herself without any problems (the West would thus speak of the "so-called 'DDR'" when it had to be belittled).
In 1965 the Federal Minister of All-German Affairs
Minister of Intra-German Relations
The Federal Minister of Intra-German Relations was a federal cabinet minister of the Federal Republic of Germany...
issued the Directives for the appellation of Germany recommending to avoid the acronym. On 31 May 1974 the heads of German federal and states governments recommended to always use the full name in official publications. In November 1979 the federal government informed the Bundestag
Bundestag
The Bundestag is a federal legislative body in Germany. In practice Germany is governed by a bicameral legislature, of which the Bundestag serves as the lower house and the Bundesrat the upper house. The Bundestag is established by the German Basic Law of 1949, as the successor to the earlier...
that the West German public broadcasts ARD
ARD (broadcaster)
ARD is a joint organization of Germany's regional public-service broadcasters...
and ZDF
ZDF
Zweites Deutsches Fernsehen , ZDF, is a public-service German television broadcaster based in Mainz . It is run as an independent non-profit institution, which was founded by the German federal states . The ZDF is financed by television licence fees called GEZ and advertising revenues...
agree to refuse using the acronym.
West Germany had always claimed to be the Germany, and she did not like the analogy to DDR, or two separate German states. This West German claim was also reflected in the Hallstein Doctrine
Hallstein Doctrine
The Hallstein Doctrine, named after Walter Hallstein, was a key doctrine in the foreign policy of the Federal Republic of Germany after 1955. It established that the Federal Republic would not establish or maintain diplomatic relations with any state that recognized the German Democratic Republic...
determining her foreign and interior policy until c. 1970. Starting in East German Neues Deutschland
Neues Deutschland
Neues Deutschland is a national German daily newspaper. It was the official party newspaper of the Socialist Unity Party of Germany , which governed the German Democratic Republic , and as such served as one of the party's most important organs...
the acronym BRD (FRG) for the Federal Republic of Germany prevailed since the early 1970s, while East German official sources adopted that acronym as standard expression in 1973.
The East German dropping of the idea of a single German nation was accompanied by skipping the terms Deutschland (Germany) and deutsch (German) in a number of terms. So using the abbreviation BRD (FRG) perfectly fitted in the official East German policy to silence about Germany. Thus in the West the acronym became even the more undesired and using it was often considered either unreflecting or even expressing naïve Communist sympathies. Because of this, the term "BRD" has since been considered communist jargon in the then West German Federal Republic of Germany.
So the acronym reached only occasional frequency in West German parlance. In order to be precise West Germans prevailingly used the terms Bundesrepublik or Bundesgebiet (federal republic, or federal territory, resp.), referring to the country and Bundesbürger (federal citizen[s]) as to its citizens, with the pertaining adjective bundesdeutsch (federally German).
To distance themselves from the term "BRD", the government of the Federal Republic of Germany officially used - if at all - the abbreviations BR Deutschland, BR Dt., BR Dtld. or simply Dtld. until German reunification
German reunification
German reunification was the process in 1990 in which the German Democratic Republic joined the Federal Republic of Germany , and when Berlin reunited into a single city, as provided by its then Grundgesetz constitution Article 23. The start of this process is commonly referred by Germans as die...
. After the hardly established federative states of the German Democratic Republic had given in their adhesion to the Federal Republic, "Germany" ("Deutschland") is always used as the official short name.
Some federal states, generally responsible for West German school education, already in the 1970s had recommended to skip the acronym in education. For example a decree by the educational authorities of the state of Schleswig-Holstein
Schleswig-Holstein
Schleswig-Holstein is the northernmost of the sixteen states of Germany, comprising most of the historical duchy of Holstein and the southern part of the former Duchy of Schleswig...
of October 4, 1976 declares the term to be nicht wünschenswert, undesirable. The conference of all the states ministers for school education
Kultusministerkonferenz
The Kultusministerkonferenz is the assembly of ministers for education of each Bundesland state in Germany...
decided on 12 February 1981 to not print the acronym in books, maps, and atlasses for schools. This was occasionally explained to pupils, when coming to Eastern and Western naming conventions for the Federal Republic of Germany. In many schools the term was sanctioned as an error. The different usages were so ingrained that one could deduce a person's or source's political leaning from the name used for West Germany.
However, as the Gesellschaft für deutsche Sprache
Gesellschaft für deutsche Sprache
The Gesellschaft für deutsche Sprache , or GfdS, with its headquarters in Wiesbaden is Germany's most important government-sponsored language society...
figured out, this debate on the acronym had little influence on changing the West German parlance with the usage of the acronym - anyway at a low frequency - not dwindling further due to the debate.
Some extreme right-wing groups, which do not recognise the current government of Germany, use the term "BRD" in the same way the communists used it, to express their view that the government of the Federal Republic of Germany is not the legitimate German government. Sometimes it is written "BRd" (to indicate the government only of a reduced Germany) in this context.
Similar naming difficulties
A similar ideological question was the question whether to use "Berlin (West)" (the officially preferred name) or "West BerlinWest Berlin
West Berlin was a political exclave that existed between 1949 and 1990. It comprised the western regions of Berlin, which were bordered by East Berlin and parts of East Germany. West Berlin consisted of the American, British, and French occupation sectors, which had been established in 1945...
" . The naming of the German Democratic Republic was also a controversial issue, West Germans at first preferring the names Middle Germany
Middle Germany
Central Germany is an economic and cultural region in Germany. Its exact borders depend on context, but it is often defined as being a region within the federal states of Saxony, Thuringia and Saxony-Anhalt, or a smaller part of this region .The name dates from the German Empire, when the region...
and "SBZ" (Soviet Occupation Zone), which was only changed under Willy Brandt
Willy Brandt
Willy Brandt, born Herbert Ernst Karl Frahm , was a German politician, Mayor of West Berlin 1957–1966, Chancellor of West Germany 1969–1974, and leader of the Social Democratic Party of Germany 1964–1987....
when the West Germans started using the official name, German Democratic Republic or "DDR". However, many German newspapers, for example those owned by the conservative Springer
Axel Springer AG
Axel Springer AG is one of the largest multimedia companies in Europe, with more than 11,500 employees and with annual revenues of about €2.9 billion. The Company is active in a total of 36 countries, including Hungary, Poland, the Czech Republic, Russia and Germany, France, Spain, Switzerland...
company, always wrote "DDR" in scare quotes
Scare quotes
Scare quotes are quotation marks placed around a word or phrase to indicate that it does not signify its literal or conventional meaning.- History :Use of the term "scare quotes" appears to have arisen at some point during the first half of the 20th century...
until 1 August 1989.
Another example was the naming of the Soviet defence organisation. The official name was the Treaty of Warsaw but the West constantly called it the Warsaw Pact
Warsaw Pact
The Warsaw Treaty Organization of Friendship, Cooperation, and Mutual Assistance , or more commonly referred to as the Warsaw Pact, was a mutual defense treaty subscribed to by eight communist states in Eastern Europe...
. The uniformity in usage was such that the mere wording could tell you where a person got his news from.
External links
- Erlass der Schulbehörde Schleswig-Holstein (in German)