East Germany Officially German Democratic Republic A former country of northern Europe on the Baltic Sea. It was formed in 1949 from the zone of Germany occupied by Soviet troops after World War II. It was reunified with West Germany in 1990.East German adj. & n.American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.East Germany n (Placename) a former republic in N central Europe: established in 1949 and declared a sovereign state by the Soviet Union in 1954; Communist regime replaced by a multiparty democracy in 1989; reunited with West Germany in 1990. Official name: German Democratic Republic, DDR (Abbreviation) or GDR (Abbreviation) See also Germany Collins English Dictionary ? Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014East? Ger?many n. a former country in central Europe, created in 1949 from the Soviet zone of occupied Germany established in 1945: reunited with West Germany in 1990. 16,340,000; 41,827 sq. mi. (108,333 sq. km). Cap.: East Berlin. Official name, German Democratic Republic. Compare germany. East? Ger?man, adj., n. Random House Kernerman Webster’s College Dictionary, © 2010 K Dictionaries Ltd. Copyright 2005, 1997, 1991 by Random House, Inc. All rights reserved.