Editing West Berlin (section)

==Legal status==
From the legal theory followed by the Western Allies, the occupation of most of Germany ended in 1949 with the establishment of the Federal Republic of Germany (West Germany) on 23 May and of the German Democratic Republic (East Germany) on 7 October. Under Article 127 of the [[Basic Law for the Federal Republic of Germany|Basic Law]] (or constitution) of the Federal Republic, provision was made for federal laws to be extended to Greater Berlin (as Berlin was called during the [[Greater Berlin Act|1920 expansion of its municipal boundaries]]) as well as [[Baden]], [[Rhineland-Palatinate]] and [[Württemberg-Hohenzollern]] within one year of its promulgation.<ref>[https://www.bundestag.de/blob/284870/ce0d03414872b427e57fccb703634dcd/basic_law-data.pdf Article 127 &#91;Extension of law to the French zone and to Berlin&#93;] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304075359/https://www.bundestag.de/blob/284870/ce0d03414872b427e57fccb703634dcd/basic_law-data.pdf |date=4 March 2016 }} Within one year after the promulgation of this Basic Law the Federal Government, with the consent of the governments of the Länder concerned, may extend to the Länder of Baden, Greater Berlin, Rhineland-Palatinate and Württemberg-Hohenzollern any law of the Administration of the Combined Economic Area, insofar as it remains in force as federal law under Article 124 or 125.]</ref> However, because the occupation of Berlin could be ended only by a quadripartite agreement, Berlin remained an occupied territory under the formal sovereignty of the allies. Hence, the Basic Law was not fully applicable to West Berlin.<ref name="currie">[https://books.google.com/books?id=oWFzvKt8fVoC&dq=constitution+berlin+1950&pg=PA89 ''The Constitution of the Federal Republic of Germany''] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200628192858/https://books.google.com/books?id=oWFzvKt8fVoC&pg=PA89&lpg=PA89&dq=constitution+berlin+1950&source=bl&ots=hyuCIJgkpd&sig=6M92IDToC3d9dPMZ0Z_d5ugtsuc&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiLgOHypbbKAhWGtxQKHaDVD3MQ6AEITDAL#v=onepage&q=constitution%20berlin%201950&f=true |date=28 June 2020 }}, David P. Currie University of Chicago Press, 1994, page 89</ref>

On 4 August 1950, the [[House of Representatives of Berlin|House of Representatives]], the city's legislature, passed a new constitution, declaring Berlin to be a state of the Federal Republic and the provisions of the Basic Law as binding law superior to Berlin state law (Article 1, clauses 2 and 3). However, that became statutory law only on 1 September and only with the inclusion of the western Allied provision<ref>Cf. Berlin [[Allied Kommandatura|Kommandatura]] Ordinance BK/O (50) 75, 29 August 1950, clause 2b, published in the then Berlin legal gazette VOBl. I, p. 440.</ref> according to which Art. 1, clauses 2 and 3, were deferred for the time being; the clauses became valid law only on 3 October 1990 (the day of Germany's unification). It stated:

<blockquote>Article 87 is interpreted as meaning that during the transitional period Berlin shall possess none of the attributes of a twelfth Land. The provision of this Article concerning the Basic Law will only apply to the extent necessary to prevent a conflict between this Law and the Berlin Constitution....<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=N6DFsKBss-wC&dq=Die+Bestimmungen+dieses+Artikels+%2887%29+betreffend+das+Basic+Law%2C+finden+nur+in+dem+Ma%C3%9Fe+Anwendung%2C+als+es+zwecks+Vorbeugung+eines+Konflikts+zwischen+diesem+Gesetz+und+der+Berliner+Verfassung+erforderlich+ist&pg=PA44 ''Das richterliche Prüfungsrecht in Berlin''], Peter Hauck
Duncker & Humblot, 1969, page 44</ref><ref>In the German translation the respective clause of the Kommandatura Ordinance reads as follows: "Die Bestimmungen dieses Artikels (87) betreffend das Basic Law, finden nur in dem Maße Anwendung, als es zwecks Vorbeugung eines Konflikts zwischen diesem Gesetz und der Berliner Verfassung erforderlich ist". Cf. Decision of the [[Constitutional Court of Germany|Constitutional Court of the Federal Republic of Germany]] [http://opinioiuris.de/entscheidung/764 ''BVerfG, 25.10.1951 – 1 BvR 24/51'' (Der Grundrechtsteil des Bonner Basic Lawes gilt auch in West-Berlin.)] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131227234504/http://opinioiuris.de/entscheidung/764 |date=27 December 2013 }}, on: [http://opinioiuris.de/ ''OpinioIuris: Die freie juristische Bibliothek''] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120422000039/http://opinioiuris.de/ |date=22 April 2012 }}, retrieved on 2 May 2012.</ref></blockquote>

Thus, civic liberties and personal rights (except for the privacy of telecommunications) guaranteed by the Basic Law were also valid in West Berlin.

In addition, West German federal statutes could only take effect in West Berlin with the approval of the city's legislature.<ref name="currie" />
The ambiguous legal status of the city, then still legally styled as Greater Berlin (although technically only comprising the western sectors), meant that West Berliners were not eligible to vote in federal elections. In their notification of permission of 12 May 1949 the three western military governors for Germany explained their proviso in No. 4, as follows:

<blockquote>A third reservation concerns the participation of Greater Berlin in the Federation. We interpret the effect of Articles 23 and 144 (2) of the Basic Law as constituting acceptance of our previous request that while Berlin may not be accorded voting membership in the Bundestag or Bundesrat nor be governed by the Federation she may, nevertheless, designate a small number of representatives to the meetings of those legislative bodies.<ref>[http://usa.usembassy.de/etexts/ga4-490512.htm ''Approval by Western Military Governors''] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120206142827/http://usa.usembassy.de/etexts/ga4-490512.htm |date=6 February 2012 }}, on [http://usa.usembassy.de/ U.S. Diplomatic Mission to Germany] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120424070635/http://usa.usembassy.de/ |date=24 April 2012 }}, retrieved on 2 May 2012.</ref></blockquote>

Consequently, West Berliners were indirectly represented in the [[Bundestag]] in [[Bonn]] by 22 non-voting delegates<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=F54jJBcrs50C&dq=bundestag+west+berlin+22&pg=PA34 ''Germany at the Polls: The Bundestag Elections of the 1980s''], Karl H. Cerny, Duke University Press, 1990, page 34</ref> chosen by the House of Representatives.<ref>[http://www.ipu.org/parline-e/reports/arc/GERMANY_FEDERAL_REPUBLIC_1980.PDF Germany (Federal Republic of) Date of Elections: 5 October 1980] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170921035206/http://www.ipu.org/parline-e/reports/arc/GERMANY_FEDERAL_REPUBLIC_1980.PDF |date=21 September 2017 }}, [[International Parliamentary Union]]</ref> Similarly, the [[Senate of Berlin|Senate]] (the city's executive) sent four non-voting delegates to the [[Bundesrat (Germany)|Bundesrat]].<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=ZGbfBQAAQBAJ&dq=bundesrat+west+berlin&pg=PA3 ''West Germany Today (RLE: German Politics)''], Karl Koch, Routledge, 1989, page 3</ref> In addition, when the [[1979 European Parliament election|first direct elections]] to the [[European Parliament]] were held in 1979, West Berlin's three members were instead indirectly elected by the House of Representatives.<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=BTrjAAAAMAAJ&q=%22Bundestag%22+%22West+Berlin%22+%22House+of+Representatives%22 ''The Bulletin''] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181114224639/https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=BTrjAAAAMAAJ&q=%22Bundestag%22+%22West+Berlin%22+%22House+of+Representatives%22&dq=%22Bundestag%22+%22West+Berlin%22+%22House+of+Representatives%22&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjSnouOnNTeAhWrrVQKHbrpDIcQ6AEINDAC |date=14 November 2018 }}, Issues 1–3, 1979, page 6</ref>

However, as [[German nationality law#Post-war policies|West German citizens]], West Berliners were able to stand for election in West Germany. For example, Social Democrat [[Willy Brandt]], who eventually became Chancellor, was elected via his party's list of candidates. The West German government considered all West Berliners as well as all citizens of the GDR to be citizens of West Germany. Male residents of West Berlin were exempt from the Federal Republic's compulsory military service. This exemption made the city a popular destination for West German young people, which resulted in a flourishing [[counterculture]], which in turn became one of the defining features of the city.<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=RjY4AAAAIAAJ&dq=military+service+%22west+berlin%22&pg=PA166 ''Avant-Garde Film: Motion Studies''], Scott MacDonald, CUP Archive, 1993, page 166</ref><ref>[http://www.dw.com/en/tracing-west-berlins-70s-and-80s-subculture/a-16615845 Tracing West Berlin's 70s and 80s subculture] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160306014028/http://www.dw.com/en/tracing-west-berlins-70s-and-80s-subculture/a-16615845 |date=6 March 2016 }}, [[Deutsche Welle]], 21 February 2013</ref>

[[File:Berlin Alert 0400.jpg|thumb|left|U.S. military vehicles pass through the residential district of [[Zehlendorf (Berlin)|Zehlendorf]] in 1969.]]

The Western Allies remained the ultimate political authorities in West Berlin. All legislation of the House of Representatives, whether of the West Berlin legislature or adopted federal law, only applied under the proviso of confirmation by the three Western Allied commanders-in-chief.{{citation needed|date=December 2023}} If they approved a bill, it was enacted as part of West Berlin's statutory law. If the commanders-in-chief rejected a bill, it did not become law in West Berlin; this, for example, was the case with West German laws on military duty. West Berlin was run by the elected [[Governing Mayor of Berlin|Governing Mayor]] and Senate seated at [[Rathaus Schöneberg]]. The Governing Mayor and Senators (ministers) had to be approved by the Western Allies and thus derived their authority from the occupying forces, not from their electoral mandate.{{citation needed|date=December 2023}}

The Soviets unilaterally declared the occupation of East Berlin at an end along with the rest of East Germany. This move was, however, not recognised by the Western Allies, who continued to view all of Berlin as a jointly occupied territory belonging to neither of the two German states.{{citation needed|date=December 2023}} This view was supported by the continued practice of patrols of all four sectors by soldiers of all four occupying powers. Thus, occasionally Western Allied soldiers were on patrol in East Berlin as were Soviet soldiers in West Berlin. After the Wall was built, East Germany wanted to control Western Allied patrols upon entering or leaving East Berlin, a practice that the Western Allies regarded as unacceptable.{{citation needed|date=December 2023}} After protests to the Soviets, the patrols continued uncontrolled on both sides, with the tacit agreement that the western Allies would not use their patrolling privileges for helping Easterners to flee to the West.{{citation needed|date=December 2023}}

In many ways, West Berlin functioned as the ''de facto'' 11th [[states of Germany|state]] of West Germany and was depicted on maps published in the West as being a part of West Germany. There was [[crossing the inner German border|freedom of movement (to the extent allowed by geography) between West Berlin and West Germany]]. There were no separate immigration regulations for West Berlin, all immigration rules for West Germany being followed in West Berlin. West German entry [[Visa (document)|visas]] issued to visitors were stamped with "for the Federal Republic of Germany, including the State of Berlin" ({{langx|de|für die Bundesrepublik Deutschland einschl. [einschließlich] des Landes Berlin|links=no}}), prompting complaints from the Soviet Union. However, this wording remained on the visas throughout the rest of the entire period of West Berlin's existence.<ref>[https://archive.org/details/bridgebuilderins0000kiep/page/100 <!-- quote=valid for entry. --> ''Bridge Builder: An Insider's Account of Over Sixty Years in Post-war Reconstruction, International Diplomacy, and German-American Relations''], Walther Leisler Kiep Purdue University Press, 2012, page 100</ref><ref>[http://www.worldpassportstamps.com/germany-transit-visa-1991/ ''Germany – transit visa, 1991 (issued 24 July 1990)''] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170421000332/http://www.worldpassportstamps.com/germany-transit-visa-1991/ |date=21 April 2017 }}, World of Passport Stamps</ref>

West Berlin remained under military occupation until 3 October 1990, the day of [[German reunification|unification]] of East Germany, East and West Berlin with the [[West Germany|Federal Republic of Germany]]. The West German Federal Government, as well as the governments of most western nations, considered East Berlin to be a "separate entity" from East Germany, and while the Western Allies later opened embassies in East Berlin, they recognised the city only as the ''seat of government'' of the GDR, not as its ''capital''.<ref name="pugh">[https://books.google.com/books?id=DhuQAwAAQBAJ&dq=Embassy+of+the+French+Republic+in+Berlin+gdr&pg=PA158 ''Architecture, Politics, and Identity in Divided Berlin''], Emily Pugh, University of Pittsburgh Press, 2014, pages 158–159</ref>

Communist countries, however, did not recognise West Berlin as part of West Germany and usually described it as a "third" German jurisdiction, called an "independent political unit" ({{langx|de|selbständige politische Einheit|links=no}}).<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=vzmNb84n7sUC&dq=West+Berlin+special+political+area&pg=PA183 ''The East German Leadership, 1946–73: Conflict and Crisis''],
Peter Grieder, Manchester University Press, 1999, page 183</ref> On maps of East Berlin, West Berlin often did not appear as an adjacent urban area but as a monochrome terra incognita, sometimes showing the letters WB, meaning "Westberlin" ({{langx|de|Westberlin}}) or overlaid with a legend or pictures. It was often labelled "Westberlin special political area" ({{langx|de|Besonderes politisches Gebiet Westberlin}}).<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=iS5YAAAAMAAJ&q=%22Besonderes+politisches+Gebiet+Westberlin%22 ''Städte und Stadtzentren in der DDR: Ergebnisse und reale Perspektiven des Städtebaus in der Deutschen Demokratischen Republik''], Gerhard Krenz, Verlag für Bauwesen, 1969, page 22</ref>