basically , yea ,
after WWII and Germany was split up and separated , the breed kind of took off in two different directions
West German shepherds were mostly bred more for show and companionship , great for guide dogs and search and rescue dogs , ect
East German shepherds , not so much , these dogs were bred to be much more aggressive , behind the Iron Curtain , these were guard dogs trained to kill you if you got to close to that communist wall.............lol
Most Police dogs are East German lineage
East German Shepherds are bigger boned and more muscular then their West German Shepherds counterparts ,however West German Shepherds are usually more agile and athletic
but hey , we are still talking the same breed , so it's really splitting hairs on most things
another way to tell them apart , kinda sorta
most sable colored German Shepherds come from East Germany , and the classic black and tan saddle backs come from West Germany
but yea, to answer your questions , East German Shepherds are basically communists , bred and designed by communist in the 1950's and 1960's, a definite product of the Cold War
East vs West