In East Berlin, the Federal Republic of Germany and the German Democratic Republic sign the Treaty concerning the basis of relations between the two states (Grundlagenvertrag). The text, signed by state secretaries Egon Bahr and Michael Kohl, has ten articles.

Article 1 provides that the two states shall develop normal, good-neighbourly relations with each other on the basis of equal rights. Article 2 directs them by the aims and principles of the Charter of the United Nations, especially the sovereign equality of all States, respect for independence, autonomy and territorial integrity, the right of self-determination, the protection of human rights, and non-discrimination.

Article 3, in conformity with the Charter, requires that any disputes between them be settled exclusively by peaceful means and that the parties refrain from the threat or use of force. They reaffirm the inviolability, now and in the future, of the frontier existing between them and undertake fully to respect each other's territorial integrity.

Article 4 proceeds on the assumption that neither of the two States can represent the other in the international sphere or act on its behalf. Article 6 confines the sovereign jurisdiction of each State to its own territory and requires respect for each other's independence and autonomy in internal and external affairs.

Article 5 obliges them to promote peaceful relations between the European States and to contribute to security and cooperation in Europe. They shall support efforts to reduce forces and arms in Europe without allowing disadvantages to arise for the security of those concerned and, with the aim of general and complete disarmament under effective international control, efforts to achieve armaments limitation and disarmament, especially with regard to nuclear weapons and other weapons of mass destruction.

Article 7 declares their readiness to regulate practical and humanitarian questions in the process of the normalization of their relations and to conclude agreements developing, on the basis of the Treaty and for their mutual benefit, cooperation in economics, science and technology, transport, judicial relations, posts and telecommunications, health, culture, sport, environmental protection and other fields; the details have been agreed in the Supplementary Protocol. Article 8 provides for an exchange of Permanent missions, to be established at the respective Government's seat; practical questions relating to their establishment shall be dealt with separately.

Article 9 leaves unaffected the bilateral and multilateral international treaties and agreements already concluded by the two States or relating to them. Article 10 subjects the Treaty to ratification and provides that it shall enter into force on the day after the exchange of instruments of ratification; that exchange took place so that the Treaty entered into force on 21 June 1973. The Federal Republic states for the record that questions of national citizenship are not regulated by the Treaty; the German Democratic Republic, that the Treaty will facilitate a regulation of those questions. A letter from Bahr accompanying the signature states that the Treaty does not conflict with the political aim of the Federal Republic to work for a state of peace in Europe in which the German nation will regain its unity through free self-determination. The text is not the 1971 Four Power Agreement on Berlin, not the 1971 Transit Agreement, and not the 1990 Two Plus Four Treaty.

Image: former Staatsratsgebaude, Schlossplatz, Berlin-Mitte; Jorg Zagel, 24 April 2010; CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons. Cropped to 16:9.

Source consulted: Basic Treaty, 1972. Treaty text: The Basic Treaty, 21 December 1972, German History in Documents and Images.