West Germany or the Federal Republic of Germany is a state that existed from 23 May 1949 to 3 October 1990 (reunification of the two Germanys). It was separated from East Germany by an internal German border . Then, in 1961, the western part of the city of Berlin, inside the East German border, was separated by a wall. In 1990, five East German states merged with 10 West German states, and the whole of Germany was renamed the German Federal Republic. Historians have dubbed West Germany the "Forest Republic" and the post-1990 Republic the "Berlin Republic".