Neue Ostpolitik, or Ostpolitik for short, was the normalization of relations between the Federal Republic of Germany and
Eastern Europe, particularly the German Democratic Republic beginning in 1969. Influenced by Egon Bahr, who proposed "change through rapprochement" in a 1963 speech at the Evangelische Akademie Tutzing, the policies were implemented beginning with Willy Brandt, fourth Chancellor of the FRG from 1969 to 1974, and winner of the 1971 Nobel Prize for Peace for his efforts to place this policy at the acme of the FRG.
Willy Brandt (left) and Willi Stoph in Erfurt 1970, the first encounter of a Federal Chancellor with his East German counterpart, an early step in the de-escalation of the Cold War
Brandt's successor Helmut Schmidt with East German party leader Erich Honecker, Döllnsee 1981
West Germany was the Federal Republic of Germany from its formation on 23 May 1949 until its reunification with East Germany on 3 October 1990. During the Cold War, the western portion of Germany and the associated territory of West Berlin were parts of the Western Bloc. West Germany was formed as a political entity during the Allied occupation of Germany after World War II, established from 12 states formed in the three Allied zones of occupation held by the United States, the United Kingdom, and France. The capital was the city of Bonn, hence the Cold War-era country is sometimes known as the Bonn Republic.
Dutch tanks, pictured in West Germany in 1956 as part of the large British and American-led foreign military presence in the country
Konrad Adenauer was a German statesman who served as the first chancellor of the Federal Republic of Germany.
Rudi Dutschke, student leader
The Volkswagen Beetle – for many years the most successful car in the world – on the assembly line in Wolfsburg factory, 1973