When on 4 August 1950 the West Berlin parliament passed a new constitution (Verfassung von Berlin), declaring Berlin a state of the Federal Republic and the provisions of the Grundgesetz as binding law superior to Berlin state law (Article 1, clauses 2 and 3) this became statutory law only on 1 September and only with the inclusion of the western Allied provision[1] that Art. 1, clauses 2 and 3, were not valid (literally in German: zurückgestellt, i.e. deferred for the time being; the clauses became valid law on 3 October 1990, the day of Germany's unification) and that Art. 87 (clause 3), specifying that insofar as for the time being the western Allies accepted provisions of the Grundgesetz as applicable, they were only considered superior law to the extent necessary to prevent conflicts between the Grundgesetz and the Constitution of Berlin (West).[2] Thus civic liberties and personal rights (save the secrecy of telecommunications) guaranteed by the Grundgesetz were also valid in Berlin (West).
In addition, West German federal laws did not apply to West Berlin, but the House of Representatives of Berlin (German: Abgeordnetenhaus von Berlin; the West Berlin legislature; reunited Berlin's legislature bears the same name) had voted in every new federal law without debate to maintain legal status with the pre-1990 Federal Republic of Germany.
The ambiguous legal status of West Berlin, then still legally styled as Greater Berlin, although technically only comprising the western sectors, meant that West Berliners were not eligible to vote in federal elections. In their notification of permission of 12 May 1949 the three western military governors for Germany explained their proviso in No. 4, as follows:
"A third reservation concerns the participation of Greater Berlin in the Federation. We interpret the effect of Articles 23 and 144 (2) of the Basic Law as constituting acceptance of our previous request that while Berlin may not be accorded voting membership in the Bundestag or Bundesrat nor be governed by the Federation she may, nevertheless, designate a small number of representatives to the meetings of those legislative bodies".[3]
Consequently, West Berliners were indirectly represented in the Bundestag in Bonn by 22 non-voting delegates chosen by the city's House of Representatives. Similarly, the Senate sent four non-voting delegates to the Bundesrat.
However, as West German citizens, West Berliners were able to stand for election, such as Social Democrat Chancellor Willy Brandt, who was elected via his party's list of candidates. Also, men there were exempt from the Federal Republic's compulsory military service; this exemption made the city a popular destination for West German youths, which resulted in a flourishing counterculture, which became one of the defining features of the city.