Editing West Germany (section)

===Reunification===
{{Main|German reunification}}
{{See also|Old states of Germany}}
With the [[Revolutions of 1989|collapse of eastern bloc]] in 1989, symbolised by the opening of the [[Berlin Wall]], there was a rapid move towards [[German reunification]]; and [[Treaty on the Final Settlement with Respect to Germany|a final settlement of the post-war special status of Germany]]. Following democratic elections, East Germany declared its accession to the Federal Republic subject to the terms of the Unification Treaty between the two states; and then both West Germany and East Germany radically amended their respective constitutions in accordance with that Treaty's provisions. East Germany then dissolved itself, and its five post-war states ({{lang|de|Länder}}) were reconstituted, along with the reunited Berlin which ended its special status and formed an additional {{lang|de|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 NATO and the European Union.

The official German reunification ceremony on 3 October 1990 was held at the [[Reichstag building|{{lang|de|Reichstag|nocat=y}} building]], including [[Chancellor of Germany#Federal Chancellor of the Federal Republic of Germany (1949–present)|Chancellor]] [[Helmut Kohl]], President [[Richard von Weizsäcker]], former Chancellor [[Willy Brandt]] and many others. One day later, the parliament of the united Germany would assemble in an act of symbolism in the Reichstag building.

However, at that time, the role of Berlin had not yet been decided upon. Only after a fierce debate, considered by many as one of the most memorable sessions of parliament, the {{lang|de|[[Bundestag]]}} concluded on 20 June 1991, with quite a slim majority, that both government and parliament should move to [[Berlin]] from [[Bonn]].