East Germany, in the Caribbean
Thursday, 17th May 2007 by Alex Turnbull
This is the small island formerly known as Cayo Blanco de Sur, Cuba. The island is around 15 km long, about 500 metres wide, and is uninhabited save for the indigenous birds and iguanas.
In 1972 while on a state visit to East Berlin, Fidel Castro gifted this island1 to the former socialist country of East Germany, and renamed it Cayo Ernesto Thaelmann, after the leader of the German Communist Party, Ernst Thälmann.2
Of course, East Germany ceased to exist in 1990 when the (East) German Democratic Republic was absorbed by the Federal Republic of (West) Germany. Well, that's what everybody thought.
It transpires that Cayo Ernesto Thaelmann wasn't actually mentioned in the unification treaty - West Germany never made a claim to it - meaning this Caribbean island is arguably the only remaining piece of East German territory.
You can read more about this bizarre story at the excellent Strange Maps blog.
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Well, Cuba apparently received 6% of the world market share in refined sugar in return. Which strikes me as pretty poor deal on East Germany's part. ↩︎
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The East German ambassador erected a bust of Ernst Thälmann on the island's south beach in August 1972, which survived until 1998 when it fell over during a hurricane. It might even still be there! Can anyone find it? ↩︎
About the author
Alex has decided that his title will be Senior Vice President of Stuff.
Isnt there a weird thing to do with Berwick upon Tweed still being at war with Germany or something? British viewers of QI will know what i’m talking about.
There you go: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Berwick_upon_Tweed#State_of_war_with_Russia Funny story!
I bet the Russians were shaking in their boots with that superpower still looming.
The Strange Maps site is absolutely brilliant ……….if you like strange maps that is ……which i do!
Thanks for the clarification KofA! Russia? Germany? Tomato/Tomatoe!
this CAN’T be true germany (est AND west) is in Europe