East German
16
4.1
- noun
:
alemán de la RDA
- From the moment the first wave of East Germans crossed into Berlin, they have been showered with champagne and cheered by a crowd of thousands.
- former East Germans
- thousands of East Germans
- million East Germans
And me and my friends and most of the people I knew and were East Germans and we were very poor because we didn't have money.
- And me and my friends and most of the people I knew and were East Germans and we were very poor because we didn't have money.
Examples
-
Defeated, humiliated, more object than subject, many East Germans expressed their disappointment in terms of self-pity and resentment.
Academic text (1993) -
Since January 1989, more than 350,000 East Germans have emigrated to the West.
Academic text (1990) -
You mean the East Germans will be willing to let you go?
-
Whether he was accompanied by other East German officers, we do not know.
Academic text (2013) -
The buildings designed by East Germans to change society did not have that effect.
Academic text (1994) -
Some of the East German police were rude and suspicious.
-
In 1989, about three million out of the twelve million East German adults belonged to parties.
Academic text (1993) -
Even the East Germans seem exhilarated.
-
By the end of September, 25,000 East Germans had taken advantage of Hungary's open border and crossed into Austria.
Academic text (1990) -
Many East Germans remember the changes that the reunification brought to their lives.
Synonyms
A person who is a citizen, born in Germany, or whose family comes from Germany
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning 'relating to East Germany or its people' is directly derivable from combining 'East' (a region/directional qualifier) with 'German' (nationality), so a learner who knows both words can infer it refers to people or things from the eastern part of Germany. This regional/national compound follows common cross‑linguistic patterns and is non‑idiomatic, making it transparent to a B1 learner (though precise historical dates may need additional context).
Etymology
East German originally named a person from the country called East Germany, the part of Germany that stood on the eastern side behind the Berlin Wall from 1949 to 1990. Because East points to the east side and German names the people, it came to mean 'a native or inhabitant of the former republic of East Germany'.