Soviet occupation zone in Germany

"Soviet occupation zone" redirects here. For the zone in northern Korea, see Soviet Civil Administration.

Soviet occupation zone in Germany Sowjetische Besatzungszone Советская оккупационная зона Германии
Military occupation zone of the Soviet Union
Flag of the Soviet Union
The Soviet occupation zone in red
Anthem
"State Anthem of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics"
Capital	Berlin
Government
• Type	Military occupation (member of the Eastern Bloc)
Military governors
• 1945–1946	Georgy Zhukov
• 1946–1949	Vasily Sokolovsky
• 1949	Vasily Chuikov
Historical era	Post-World War II Cold War
• Surrender of Nazi Germany	8 May 1945
• German Democratic Republic established	7 October 1949
Succeeded by East Germany
Today part of	Germany

The Soviet occupation zone in Germany (German: Sowjetische Besatzungszone (SBZ) or Ostzone, lit. 'East Zone'; Russian: Советская оккупационная зона Германии, romanized: Sovetskaya okkupatsionnaya zona Germanii) was an area of Germany that was occupied by the Soviet Union as a communist area, established as a result of the Potsdam Agreement on 2 August 1945. On 7 October 1949 the German Democratic Republic (GDR), commonly referred to in English as East Germany, was formally established in the Soviet occupation zone.

1949 Soviet visa from occupied Germany in a Polish service-passport