Twenty years after reunification, a clear majority of Germans regard this historic milestone as a “cause for joy”. 63% have such a positive view of unity. However, 17% regard reunification as a “cause for concern”, while 20% are undecided. “Looking at the results of our poll on German reunification, people’s great joy about unification has been one of the constants of the past two decades,” says Thomas Petersen from the Allensbach Institute, one of the most respected opinion research firms in Germany. “Above all, the figures in eastern Germany are all overwhelming positive.”
A majority of 64% also believe that east and west are growing together successfully. The figure in the west is as high as 68%, compared to 51% in the east. 15% of people in eastern Germany are undecided, and at least 34% there believe that east and west will “basically remain like two separate states”.
Convergence between the two parts of Germany is made more difficult by the growing tendency in eastern Germany to glorify the former GDR. These days, only 45% of east Germans still say that “A lot really had to change” in the former GDR. 72% had agreed with this statement back in 1990. Thomas Petersen explains: “The GDR’s propaganda apparatus was excellent – unfortunately. And it’s still having an effect today: it’s not easy to shake off.” All the more positive is the fact that relations between east and west Germans are becoming more and more relaxed. A steadily growing number of Germans see people in east and west as “quite close”. 25% agreed with this statement in 2009, the highest figure since reunification in 1990. The assessment of the relationship had reached a low point in 1995. Back then, 48% of Germans believed that east and west Germans were “quite far apart”; only 15% voted for “quite close”.
“The notion that serious conflicts might break out between east and west was already absurd in the mid-1990s. Even so, at that time the two sides were often using derogatory terms for the other, saying they were either ‘arrogant’ or ‘always complaining’”, says Thomas Petersen. “The fact that these terms have since gone out of fashion also shows that relations between east and west have been normalizing slowly but steadily. This is partially thanks to many young people, for whom the differences between the two parts of the country are simply no longer relevant.” 58% of Germans already describe Germany’s overall development – from the fall of the Berlin Wall to reunification and on to the present day – as a success story. 57% of people hold this view in the west, as many as 64% in the east. A majority of 47% believe that economic development in eastern Germany since reunification has been a success. 30% are undecided, and only 23% regard it as a failure.
The east of the country has caught up significantly in terms of everyday consumption. “The differences in this area have almost levelled out,” emphasizes Thomas Petersen. This becomes especially clear in replies on how homes are furnished in east and west. In 1991, 62% of west Germans and 68% of east Germans saw a distinct difference here. These figures have since fallen to 25% in the west and 19% in the east. ///
