What is East Germany at the Olympics?
[[File:Flag of East Germany.svg|thumb|right]] The '''German Democratic Republic (GDR)''', or '''[[East Germany]]''', sent [[Sportsperson|athletes]] to the [[Olympic Games]] from 1956 until 1988. They have taken part in both the [[Summer Olympic Games|Summer]] and [[Winter Olympic Games|Winter Games]]. From 1956 through 1966, East German athletes were a part of a combined team from both East and [[West Germany]]. After 1966, the East Germans were a separate team. They won a total of 519 medals at the Olympics. ==History== ===Division of Germany=== [[Germany]] was divided after [[World War II]]. Three separate [[state]]s were created. German athletes tried to take part in the 1948 games but the [[Allies of World War II|Allies]] did not let this happen. Finally, in 1949, the [[Deutscher Olympischer Sportbund|National Olympic Committee for Germany]] was founded in the Western [[West Germany|Federal Republic of Germany]]. The [[IOC]] accepted it as both of the larger two larger German states. The small, [[France|French]]-occupied [[Saarland]] and its [[National Olympic Committee|NOC]] were separate until after 1955. East German [[Authority|authorities]] of the ''Nationales Olympisches Komitee für Ostdeutschland'' did not send their athletes to the 1952 games in an all-German team. The wanted a team of their own. This was not allowed by the IOC. ===United German Team=== East Germany agreed to take part in the [[1956 Summer Olympics|1956 Games]]. German athletes from the East and West Germany took part in the games in 1956, 1960 and 1964 as the [[United Team of Germany]]. This team was just called Germany at the time. ===Success of East Germans=== The GDR renamed their NOC to ''Nationales Olympisches Komitee der DDR'' in 1965. It was accepted by the IOC in 1968. At this point East Germany sent its own team to the Games. They did not take part in the in [[1984 Summer Olympics]] due to the [[Soviet Union|Soviet]] [[boycott]]. Although East Germany had a small [[population]] of about 16 million, they did very well. Fr