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East Germany

Dossier: The highs and lows of reunification

Zahlreiche Deutschlandfahnen prägen am 27.1.1990 im sächsischen Plauen die Demonstration für die deutsch-deutsche Wiedervereinigung. Der Untergang des SED-Regimes hatte sich in einem rasanten Tempo vollzogen: Am 9.11.1989 öffnete die DDR ihre Grenzen, ein Jahr später, am 3.10.1990 sind die Deutschen 45 Jahre nach dem Ende des 2. Weltkrieges wieder in einem souveränen Staat vereint.

Less than a year after the Berlin Wall was opened, East and West Germany became one unified country. But there were both winners and losers in reunification, and many people still speak of a "wall in the mind" dividing East and West Germans from each other. Twenty years after the fall of the Wall, Germans are still coming to terms with their combined identity.

Coming to terms with the past

Learning about communist East Germany sheds light on the present

Nearly 20 years after the fall of the Wall, communist East Germany is an enigma for young Germans. Some do not even know who built the Wall that divided Germany for decades, but educators are trying to change that. (29.10.2009) 

Iconic Berlin soccer club cancels sponsorship deal over Stasi row

FC Union Berlin, a soccer club in the second division of the German Bundesliga, has dumped its main sponsor over allegations of ties to the Stasi, the feared secret police in the former East Germany. (25.08.2009) 

Head of Stasi archive says countless files have yet to be read

Marianne Birthler, the head of the agency that oversees the archives holding millions of files collected by the former East German secret police, says many files remain untouched. (26.05.2009) 

Few East Germans interested in revisiting Stasi atrocities

Berlin's notorious Stasi detention center is now a memorial site meant to educate visitors about the injustices committed under communism. But many are worried that former East Germans simply aren't interested. (05.05.2009) 

Trabi tours offer "ostalgic" look back at East Berlin

Looking for a unique way to see the sights in the German capital? DW correspondent Neale Lytollis decided to indulge in a little "Ostalgie" - nostalgia for the old East Germany - and tried traveling the "Trabi" way. (17.10.2009) 

Thousands of former Stasi spies at work in German civil service, report says

The German edition of the "Financial Times" reports that more than 17,000 former members of East Germany's dreaded Stasi secret police have been holding down jobs as civil servants in reunified Germany. (09.07.2009) 

Former East Bloc Countries Sign Accord on Stasi Files

Germany and six former East Bloc countries have started a network for coming to terms with the crimes of the Communist secret police. Their goal: to share experiences at conferences and improve access to files. (18.12.2008) 

East Germany today

Changing Regions - Better Days in Eastern Germany

Over the past two decades since German unification, islands of economic affluence have developed in the new eastern German federal states. We show 6 of them. (29.09.2009) 

Germany's former East-West border blossoms as eco-paradise

Until 1989 a so-called death strip of concrete and barbed wire divided Germany and Europe. The area may have been a symbol of political turmoil, but turned out to be ideal for biodiversity. (20.05.2009) 

What's Left of the Berlin Wall

On Aug. 13, 1961, East German workers began erecting the infamous Berlin Wall, which would separate the city in two halves for more than 28 years. Take a look at what's left of the wall nearly two decades after its fall. (12.08.2008) 

An uneven reunification

Study: Many east Germans strangers in their own country

A new study of German reunification has found that many eastern Germans still feel alienated from the unified Federal Republic. (23.07.2009) 

Germans Disappointed by Reunification, New Poll Shows

Almost 20 years after the fall of the Berlin Wall, most Germans are disappointed at what the country has achieved since reunification, a new survey shows. (02.01.2009) 

Audios and videos on the topic

East Germany remains a mystery for many young people

Border city Helmstedt was transformed overnight

What happened to SED spokesman Guenter Schabowski

An East German-West German couple reunites

More on this topic

Street in a town of the former GDR

Eastern Germany is western Germany's trillion euro bet 24.09.2010

German reunification, 20 years underway, has consumed billions of taxpayers' euros in the more affluent western half of the country. So will billions more be needed to keep the new states afloat 20 years from now?

Neo-Nazi skinhead pictured from behind

The rise of the far-right in the East 21.09.2010

Along with many other prejudices, eastern Germany has had to contend with a reputation for neo-Nazism. It's not entirely unjustified, but right-wing extremism in the East has roots in economic hardship.
The Post Tower in Bonn

Bonn booms since losing its status as capital 21.09.2010

For over 40 years the small town of Bonn was the capital of the Federal Republic of Germany. After reunification the government moved back to Berlin, but Bonn didn't sink into provincial obscurity. Quite the contrary.

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Word of the Week

Themenbild für den Index der Übersichtsseite des englischen: Wort der Woche. Foto: Ssogras-Fotolia --- DW-Grafik: Peter Steinmetz

Word of the Week archive: A - D

People and Politics

Under Fire - The Flaws and Failings of Germany’s Domestic Intelligence

Series: Taking Germany’s Pulse