GERMAN NATIONALITY

Abstract

This chapter explores issues related to German nationality. German nationality poses unique problems in national and international law. The defeat of the German Reich in World War II resulted at first in the occupation of its territory. In 1949, separate constitutions were enacted, in the Federal Republic of Germany on the one side and in the German Democratic Republic (GDR) on the other. Before and after these events, a political and academic discussion took place about the legal status of Germany; this discussion has not yet led to a definitive conclusion accepted by all sides. It is still a matter of controversy whether the German Reich as a subject of international law survived the defeat in 1945 and all later events, and also what the legal relationship is between the German Reich and the two States now existing in Germany. Neither the treaties concluded by the two German States with their allies nor the treaties concluded in the 1970s furnish a clear answer to the intricate problems concerning the legal status of Germany as a divided State.