The conclusion of the final settlement cleared the way for the unification of East and West Germany. Formal political union occurred on 3 October 1990, preceded by the GDR declaring its accession to the Federal Republic through Article 23 of West Germany's Basic Law (meaning that constitutionally, East Germany was subsumed into West Germany); but affected in strict legality through the subsequent Unification Treaty of 30 August 1990, which was voted into their constitutions by both the West German Bundestag and the East German Volkskammer on 20 September 1990. These votes simultaneously extinguished the GDR and affected fundamental amendments to the West German Basic Law (including the repeal of the very Article 23 under which the GDR had recently declared its post-dated accession). On 2 December 1990, all-German elections were held for the first time since 1933. The "new" country stayed the same as the West German legal system and institutions were extended to the east. The unified nation kept the name Bundesrepublik Deutschland (though the simple 'Deutschland' would become increasingly common) and retained the West German "Deutsche Mark" for currency as well. Berlin would formally become the capital of the united Germany, but the political institutions remained at Bonn for the time being. Only after a heated 1991 debate did the "Bundestag" conclude on moving itself and most of the government to Berlin as well, a process that took until 1999 to complete, when the "Bundestag" held its first session at the reconstructed "Reichstag" building. Many government departments still maintain sizable presences in Bonn as of 2008.