The Deutsche Demokratische Republik (DDR), the former country of East Germany, in existence from 1949 until 1990. Its capital was East Berlin. The states of Thuringia (Thüringen), Saxony (Sachsen), Saxony-Anhalt (Sachsen-Anhalt), Mecklenburg-West Pomerania (Mecklenburg-Vorpommern), and Brandenburg comprise the territory that used to be the GDR (along with Berlin, now its own federal state).