<P> Three southwestern states of West Germany merged to form Baden - Württemberg in 1952, and the Saarland joined the Federal Republic of Germany in 1957 . In addition to the resulting ten states, West Berlin was considered an unofficial de facto 11th state . While legally not part of the Federal Republic of Germany, as Berlin was under the control of the Allied Control Council, West Berlin aligned itself politically with West Germany and was directly or indirectly represented in its federal institutions . </P> <P> Relations with the Soviet bloc improved during the era of "Neue Ostpolitik" around 1970, West Germany then adopting the principle that the GDR and the Federal Republic were "two German states within one German nation". Claims to an exclusive mandate were formally relinquished, West Germany accepting that, within its own boundaries, the GDR represented its population as a de jure German state outside the Federal Republic . In addition, although the Federal Republic still did not recognise the GDR as being fully a sovereign state in international law, it nevertheless accepted that within the forum of international law East Germany was an independent sovereign state with which the Federal Republic could enter into binding international agreements . But in respect of legality within its own boundaries, West Germany continued to maintain that there remained a single (but dormant) overall German nation, that could only be represented de jure by the Federal Republic . From 1973 onward, East Germany maintained the existence of two German sovereign states, with West Germany being both de facto and de jure a foreign country . The Federal Republic and the GDR agreed that neither of them could speak in the name of the other . </P> <P> The foundation for the influential position held by Germany today was laid during the Wirtschaftswunder (economic miracle) of the 1950s when West Germany rose from the enormous destruction wrought by World War II to become the world's third - largest economy . The first chancellor Konrad Adenauer, who remained in office until 1963, had worked for a full alignment with NATO rather than neutrality . He not only secured a membership in NATO but was also a proponent of agreements that developed into the present - day European Union . When the G6 was established in 1975, there was no question whether the Federal Republic of Germany would be a member as well . </P> <P> Following the collapse of communism in Central and Eastern Europe in 1989, symbolised by the opening of the Berlin Wall, there was a rapid move towards German reunification . East Germany voted to dissolve itself and accede to the Federal Republic in 1990 . Its five post-war states (Länder) were reconstituted along with the reunited Berlin, which ended its special status and formed an additional Land . They formally joined the Federal Republic on 3 October 1990, raising the number of states from 10 to 16, ending the division of Germany . The expanded Federal Republic retained West Germany's political culture and continued its existing memberships in international organisations, as well as its Western foreign policy alignment and affiliation to Western alliances like UN, NATO, OECD and the European Union . </P>

The first chancellor and founding father of the west german federal republic was