East Berlin was the name of the eastern part of Berlin between 1949 and 1990. It was the Soviet sector of Berlin that was established in 1945. The American, British and French sectors became West Berlin, a "de facto" part of West Germany. Although it was always legally a part of an occupied city, East Berlin was claimed as the capital of East Germany. From 13 August 1961 until 9 November 1989 it was separated from West Berlin by the Berlin Wall. The East German government referred to East Berlin simply as "Berlin" or often ""Berlin, Hauptstadt der DDR" (Berlin, capital of the GDR). The term "Democratic Sector" was also used until the 1960s.