East German Passport 1958 – USA Visa
East German Passport USA
The “cool” thing here is a GDR EXIT VISA for the United States of America! An exciting collectible! This East German passport was issued in Brandenburg/Havel on 15 February 1958 and was valid until 14 August 1958. A 1950s GDR passport is already hard to find, but a document with such a visa is almost unique! However, it seems she didn’t make it to the United States, and I wonder if that would be even possible at that time in 1958 as the USA recognized GDR just 16 years later in 1974 and established diplomatic relations. Considering this fact, this document is even more precious.
Recognition of the German Democratic Republic, and the Establishment of Diplomatic Relations and the American Embassy in Berlin, 1974.
In response to the improvement of relations between the two German governments, representatives of the United States and GDR negotiated arrangements for U.S. recognition of the GDR and the establishment of diplomatic relations, which occurred on September 4, 1974, when the United States and East Germany released a joint communiqué to that effect. Despite this step taken to deal with the reality of the German situation, the United States continued until German reunification in 1990 to view the FRG as the sole legitimate successor government of the historical German state and a future reunified Germany. East German Passport USA
The American Embassy in Berlin was established on December 9, 1974, with Brandon H. Grove, Jr., as Chargé d’Affaires ad interim. John Sherman Cooper presented his credentials as the first U.S. Ambassador to the GDR on December 20, 1974.East German Passport USA