On this day in 1949–on May 23–the Federal Republic of Germany (the former West Germany) adopted Germany’s Basic Law. Referred to as the Grundgesetz fuer die Bundesrepublik Deutschland, it is the highest law of the country and, therefore, akin to our constitution. But because Germany was occupied by four World War II Allies at the time the Basic Law was adopted, these four occupation forces–the United States, Great Britain, France, and the Soviet Union–had to approve the action. In May of 1949 only the three Western occupation forces approved the Basic Law. And they approved it only for their occupation zones. The Soviet Union did not endorse it for East Germany.

For that reason the term constitution was never used. The Basic Law was meant to serve merely on a temporary basis. The intent was to enact a permanent constitution once East and West Germany would be reunited. Instead, the two halves of the country remained split for twenty-eight years. Five months after the Basic Law was adopted in the Western zones of Germany, the Russian zone had adopted its own constitution.

After the fall of the Berlin Wall in November 1989 and the German reunification in October 1990, the Parliament of West Germany, the Bundestag, voted to incorporate East German territories under West Germany’s Basic Law. Its key components are the principles of democracy, social responsibility, and republicanism; human rights and human dignity are at its core. The once provisional Basic Law became, except for minor changes, the constitution of the reunited Germany, although the term “constitution” is still not used.

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