German reunification, the process in which the Federal Republic of Germany (West Germany) and the German Democratic Republic (East Germany) were reunited into one country, officially occurred on October 3, 1990. The process began in 1989 with the fall of the Berlin Wall and gained momentum in the following months as East Germans began to flee to the West. In March 1990, the first free elections were held in East Germany, and in August, the two German states signed a treaty establishing a monetary, economic, and social union. On October 3, 1990, the two German states were officially reunited, and Germany became a single, unified country once again.
