The central theme of this volume is the historical analysis of relations between the two German states and the United Nations up until the admission of East and West Germany to the UN in 1973. This triangular relationship has hitherto only been of marginal interest in research, and the few studies that exist cover either the period from 1973 or, simply because of the lack of archive material, examine the development from an individual state perspective. The present study breaks new ground in this respect. For the first time, extensive use is made of archive material of the East German foreign ministry and the records of the UN archive in New York. It also shows, moreover, that at least at the pre-diplomatic level a symbolic form of competition for exclusive representation and acknowledgement between the two Germany's developed. Until the admission of both states in 1973, the UNO was an independent arena in the inner-German conflict.