Even 22 years after German reunification, significant differences still exist between the eastern and western parts of the unified country. “Ossi” (as the population of the former GDR is called here) and “Wessi” (residents of the western part) in many ways perceive each other as strangers and make up tall tales about each other. True, there is a theme that unites them.
On the occasion of the anniversary of German unity, celebrated on October 3, the German tabloid Bild published the results of a survey. Surprisingly, those who grew up in East Germany are often more open to the West than West Germans are to the East, journalists from Bild begin their article. The survey, which was conducted from September 28 to October 1, 2012, involved 1,005 citizens of East and West Germany.
One in five West Germans (21 percent) have never been to East Germany. Of those living in East Germany, only 9 percent have never been to the West. 67 percent of West Germans could marry someone from the former GDR. Against - 17 percent. Among the East Germans surveyed, 78 percent could enter into such marriages, 11 percent refused. Three-quarters of all Germans (74 percent) see the reason for the “difference in mentality” between the population of the old and new (i.e., former GDR) federal states, highlighting certain qualities inherent in the “Ossies” and “Wessies.”
36 percent of all respondents consider “money-oriented” to be a typical West German quality, while 17 percent consider it a typical quality of East Germans. “Rudity,” judging by the survey, is more typical of West Germans, at least 23 percent of respondents think so, and only 17 percent called this behavior typical of residents of the eastern regions.
But East Germans are most often called (37 percent of all respondents) always grumbling and “dissatisfied.” And only 17 percent are sure that this character trait is inherent in their Western neighbors. What can I say! “Dependence on superiors,” according to 29 percent of respondents, is more characteristic of residents of the former GDR than of Germans in the Western lands (12 percent). And further, in full accordance with the cliché: “envy” is an indispensable quality of an “Aussie”. 30 percent of respondents are confident in this, and only 13 percent think that West Germans also have it.
As for the problems of modern politics, there seems to be practically no disagreement on this issue between East and West Germans. 64 percent of respondents, both in the East and in the West, are indifferent to Federal President Joachim Gauck and Chancellor Angela Merkel. Let us remember that both of them who reached the highest government positions as politicians came from East Germany. Nearly a third of those surveyed were "Ossies" (36 percent) and almost as many "Wessies" (37 percent) believe that the ex-GDR security service Stasi "still continues to influence society." An almost equal number of East and West Germans surveyed also hold the opposite point of view. For some reason, Bild did not provide exact data on this matter.
In the very first comment, one of the bloggers rhetorically asks: “What about the difference in mentality between the inhabitants of Schleswig-Holstein and Bavaria?” The irony is quite appropriate, since there is also a difference between Bavaria, which lies to the south, and the northern lands of Schleswig-Holstein. The Bavarians even have their own special dialect of the German language - Bairisch, which is the farthest from the literary German language (the so-called Standarddeutsch or Hochdeutsch). There are other differences in lifestyle, dislike for the “militarized” Prussians (Prussia has traditionally supplied men to the German officer corps), etc. It seems, however, that the difference along the “north-south” principle - for historical reasons - is less striking, rather than between the west and east of the country. In neighboring Italy there is a striking contrast between the industrial North and the agricultural South, while in Germany the division occurred along a different geographical parameter.
“I’ve never heard such nonsense,” the anonymous blogger is indignant. “Every “Wessy” wants to know everything about the East Germans, but has not the slightest idea about them.” Another visitor under the nickname Siegfried Bauer comments: “A large international guidebook persistently warns against visiting the GDR. That, in fact, says it all.”
Crowded demonstrations passed by the Soviet garrison and people walking with candles in their hands chanted: “Gorbi! Gorbi!” Love for the Soviet leader, who a little later “gave” his trusted allies to his new Western friends for a great life, was soon replaced by a different mood. In the fall of 1989, in Dresden, Berlin and Leipzig, the slogan Wir sind ein Volk (“We are the people”), inspired by the Soviet “perestroika,” was heard for the first time, from which Wir sind das Volk (“We are one people”) was quickly born. Both parts of Germany rushed towards unification. Each side had its own reasons. “The focus on money” mentioned in the last survey did indeed turn out to be an effective incentive for the “Wessy”. On the territory of the former GDR, they quickly created the “Guardianship Office” - Treuhand, which instantly turned into the world's largest entrepreneur, controlling more than nine thousand former state-owned enterprises, approximately two million hectares of land and two million hectares of forest land.
National or, as they said then, “people’s” property was disappearing before our eyes at bargain market prices, turning the “Ossies” into second-class Germans. The East Germans, no less than their greedy brethren, sought the reunification of the two halves of Germany. The author of these lines, living in the German Democratic Republic, asked with interest the East Germans who had visited West Germany: “Tell me in one word, what struck you most abroad?”
Germany celebrates 25 years of unification. Research and sociological surveys show that the differences (at least external) have almost been erased, but the Germans have not yet become a single nation. Conclusion: for true “unity” we need at least another twenty years. That is, a change of generation.
Demographics matter in this matter, and quite a bit. For young people born on the eve or immediately after the unification of the country, Germany has always been united and they do not know any other. When last year, while preparing the “SB” project “Without the Iron Curtain,” I was in Berlin during the celebration of the 25th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall, the leader of the “Left Party” faction in the Bundestag (64 seats in parliament, the largest opposition faction) Gregor Gysi (the son of a minister in the government of the GDR, who has never lost an election to the Bundestag after the unification of the country) admitted that his 18-year-old daughter is not too interested in history and what the GDR is. This is indicative: for young people there is one Germany - united and indivisible, but those who managed to be at least a pioneer in the GDR (there they were young Thälmannites, but that’s not the point) are much more critical of the unification. Or rather, not to the unification itself - this is a blessing for a divided nation, no one doubts this - but to what happened after it. And demographics matter again here. In the first few years after the unification, almost 14.5 million Germans from the eastern (former GDR) lands moved to the west of the country. Naturally, in search of a better, as we usually say, share. The young and able-bodied left, while the elderly and sick remained. And also - a completely unexpected effect of unification - German women living in the east (they say, seduced by the delights of the free world hitherto unknown to them) began to give birth less. As a result, today the average age of residents of the eastern regions of Germany is higher (significantly) than residents of the western regions. True, West Germans complain that Eastern Germans have larger pensions. But this is not entirely true: it’s just that women in the GDR (as in the USSR - many probably remember) worked all their lives, and therefore earned pensions. Western German women stayed at home, raising their children, and therefore their pensions are ridiculous - they have to rely on their husbands.
But wages in the east are lower: a German working in the eastern regions earns about three-quarters of what a western German brings home. And this is actually an excellent indicator, because immediately after the merger the difference was more than twofold. So practical German women, when getting married, prefer men from Western regions, who are considered more enterprising, educated and have a better chance of making a good career (and earning big money, of course). These ideas are, of course, subjective, but it is a fact that men from West Germany are still richer than their compatriots from the eastern regions. Of the 500 richest people in Germany, only 20 live in the eastern regions (and even then 14 of them in West Berlin).
At the heart of the wage problem, experts explain, are differences in enterprises: in the eastern lands (which many call “new” even 25 years later), enterprises are mainly small, medium-sized and agricultural - where do high wages come from? Large industry is in the western regions, no one has gone to the eastern regions. Or rather, they did, but in a unique way: factories and factories were privatized (often for a symbolic 1 mark) and... closed. I met East Germans whose stories were written like carbon copies: I worked at a factory, it was privatized and closed, I was left without a job, and for several years I was looking for a new one.
East Germans do not like that all their achievements (and they were) were thrown overboard and were not useful in their new life. “It was not unification, but an Anschluss,” they say bitterly. To West Germans, the cost of unification (they, of course, insist on “unification”) seems prohibitively high. Although this is where demographics come into play: young people are not familiar with this price (in the literal sense - a special tax was introduced in Germany).
In general, this weekend in Germany they will drink (they even created a special “Unification Wine” from all the grape varieties growing in the country) to their youth. An excellent toast for a silver wedding, by the way.
Before Gorbachev's perestroika, the GDR was perhaps the most loyal vassal of the Soviet Union. “A chicken is not a bird, the GDR is not a foreign country,” they joked then. Friendship with “big brother” was elevated to the rank of official state ideology in East Germany. Schools compulsorily taught the Russian language, the history of the CPSU and the USSR, almost every German city had a Soviet sister city, and Soviet holidays were celebrated in the GDR.
Friendship is not forced
Economic ties between the two countries were close. About a third of the GDR's foreign trade turnover was with the Soviet Union. According to the Chairman of the Board of the Russian-German Chamber of Foreign Trade, Michael Harms, almost every plant had production or scientific connections with Soviet organizations and enterprises, which also implied personal contacts.
In addition, a powerful group of first Soviet and later Russian troops, and residents of the GDR sometimes had very close contacts with military personnel, primarily with officers.
Mixed marriages took place quite often. As Michael Harms emphasizes, most often it is between East Germans and Russians. He himself, by the way, is also one of those East Germans who “fell victim” to Russian female charm, and the knowledge of the Russian language and experience he accumulated back in the GDR times intercultural communication served as a good platform for a career start already in a united Germany. And in Moscow now he feels like a fish in water.
“East Germans, especially those who received secondary education in the GDR, as a rule, know Russian,” explains the Deutsche Welle interlocutor. “They know the history of the Soviet Union and Russia better and are generally more sympathetic to Russia.”
This point of view is shared by former GDR diplomat Wolfgang Grabowski. “People in eastern Germany have retained a good attitude towards the Russians and still call them friends,” says Grabowski. “This is what was customary to call the inhabitants of the USSR in the German-Soviet Friendship Society.”
It should be noted that for citizens of the GDR, membership in this organization was “voluntary-compulsory.” But is it possible to be friends according to instructions from above? “Of course, not all 6.5 million members of society were sincere friends of the Soviet Union,” Grabowski admits. “It was customary to join this organization; they joined collectively, as a whole brigade. But not only.”
The former diplomat spoke about the results of a survey that he conducted many years ago among 13 thousand young members of this society, and the survey was anonymous. 81 percent of respondents said that their friendly feelings towards the Soviet Union are completely sincere, that this is their deep inner conviction.
On the other side of politics
However, in West Germany there have always been many people who sincerely sympathize with Russia, primarily due to their familiarity with Russian culture. “First of all, people were and are attracted by the richest Russian culture - Dostoevsky, Tolstoy, great Russian artists, in particular Kandinsky, who is considered unsurpassed here,” said Martin Hoffmann, manager of the German-Russian Forum, a native of Western Germany, in an interview with Deutsche Welle ( Martin Hoffmann).
In eastern Germany, the Alexandrov Song and Dance Ensemble was very popular. In addition, some customs and traditions passed on by the “big brothers” to the “younger” ones have been preserved there to this day. For example, going for mushrooms, recalls Wolfgang Grabowski. And also hospitality.
“In the east of Germany,” says Grabowski, “a form of hospitality that East Germans became familiar with during trips to the USSR or in communication with Soviet military personnel took root and was liked.” It is noteworthy, he added, that such a tradition is preserved not only by those who personally experienced Russian hospitality, but also by their children.
In conflict with the system
Angela Merkel is cooler towards Russia than her predecessor
Another thing is that those East Germans who were critical of socialism were in opposition to the system that existed in the GDR. “They, of course, understood that this system was brought to Germany by the Soviet Union,” explains the head of the Russian-German Chamber of Foreign Trade, Michael Harms. “Therefore, they did not like the Soviet Union, and this dislike affects the attitude towards today’s Russia.”
Perhaps this explains the cooler attitude towards Russia of today's German Chancellor Angela Merkel than her predecessor Gerhard Schröder had. She is an East German, but one of those who was critical of the regime in the GDR.
Lost contacts
After the reunification of Germany, the ties that had been established over many decades between the now former GDR and the dying USSR began to quickly disintegrate, except for a short surge during that transition period when transferable Soviet rubles were still in effect. Then wholesale privatization began in the East German states, and most enterprises that had cooperative ties with Soviet plants and factories simply ceased to exist due to lack of competitiveness.
Many East Germans who were previously involved in bilateral relations were also left out of work. “Even highly qualified specialists with excellent knowledge of the Russian language were not hired by large West German companies,” recalls Wolfgang Grabowski. “The concerns preferred to hire their people who knew only English to work in Russia.”
Deutsche Welle's interlocutor does not undertake to explain this phenomenon. “Perhaps it was due to a disdainful attitude towards East Germans in general,” he suggests. “There are, of course, people who have made a career, but they are rather the exception.”
Change of generations
However, gradually the destroyed ties were restored, and people who know the Russian language and Russian realities were again in demand. First of all, this affected East German specialists involved in research and development, recalls Vitaly Shmelkov, manager of the German-Russian Economic Alliance.
According to Shmelkov’s observations, people from the former GDR are more mobile, more persistent, actively use personal contacts and established connections, and knowledge of the language, mentality and generally accepted norms of behavior in Russia allows them to navigate the country more easily. Today these people work in the Moscow representative offices of many German companies.
If, however, we look at the younger generation, Deutsche Welle’s interlocutors do not see any particular differences between West and East Germans. “In the Western federal states there are also a lot of young managers, students who are interested in Russia, spend a lot of time here, work as interns in German companies,” says Harms.
“In my opinion, now both East and West Germans are equally happy to go to the bathhouse with Russians and drink vodka with them,” adds Shmelkov.
The euphoria has passed
But this is at the everyday level. But the socio-political moods in the east and west of Germany are still different, notes the head of the German-Russian Forum Martin Hoffmann. According to him, in the east of the country people are more ready to accept Russia as it is. But West Germans are very skeptical about the current form of government in Russia, especially the style of Vladimir Putin. Hoffman attributes this sentiment to the critical coverage of events in Russia by local media.
“The euphoria caused by Gorbachev and his perestroika has passed,” states Hoffman. “Now in western Germany a restrained attitude towards Russia prevails.”
The differences between East and West Germans are increasingly disappearing (Part 1)
Berlin is cut into two parts by a concrete wall - this is symbolic. This is the language of the Cold War, when the border of the worlds passes through one city, one country. Let me remind you that Berlin is the capital of the united Germany created by Otto von Bismarck in 1871, and that it was so until 1945. Since 1701, this city was the capital of Prussia, and then of the whole of Germany.
As for me, the more interesting division is not into East and West Germany, but into South and North, Catholic and Lutheran. Indeed, we are talking about important cultural differences. Now the old line of division between North and South is returning - this is a line of demarcation that has very deep historical roots that go back to the time of the Reformation in Europe.
The difference between Germany and the GDR
The main difference is that West Germany was a capitalist country included in Western European cultural society.
It was also significantly Americanized in many ways, both politically and culturally.
East Germans continued to live under totalitarianism, although it was a completely different totalitarianism. They were limited in their cultural and tourist opportunities and did not know the world. The socialist planned economy determined everyday life.
There is also a clear distinction between the classical Prussian and Francophile parts of Germany. There the internal mood of people is different. The Prussian tradition is discipline, work, order, while the Francophile tradition encourages enjoying life.
Bavaria is a “free state” There are also a number of divisions within the eastern and western parts of Germany. Saxony and Bavaria are very specific federal states (the so-called free states), and their residents identify themselves with them. Do not forget about the difficult relations with Austria and Switzerland. Germany is much more diverse than many people think. For southern Germans, the north of their country seems in many ways like a different country.
However, politically Germany is united and united.
German reunification
The issue of German unification was always on the agenda after 1945. Even in the anthem of the GDR there was a line that it must unite. For a long time, West Germany did not recognize the East German state.
Therefore, East Germany is only a small piece of the whole Germany. East Germans wanted economic benefits from unification, as well as freedom of movement and democratic freedoms and rights.
West Germans were generally positive about the fact of unification. For some this was very important, but for many it was understandable, natural and therefore neutral. There are Germans from the western part of the country who have never been to the eastern part before.
Stasi - East German "KGB"
A few words about the Stasi, a kind of “East German KGB”. This institution was less bloody than its Russian counterpart, but penetrated deeper into society. Surveillance in the GDR was much more vigilant than in the USSR. A large percentage of the population of eastern Germany took part in the work of this intelligence service as “informers”. The minority is by conviction, the majority is through pressure and coercion.
Ministry of State Security of the GDR
We are talking about a figure from tens to hundreds of thousands. Many people suffered from this activity: some were thrown behind bars, but mostly careers and families were destroyed. Lustration was serious and detailed, but not tragic: those who lost their jobs through it became pensioners. The pensions are decent, such that a person can afford to vacation in Spain once a year.
To be continued…
MOSCOW, October 6 – RIA Novosti, Ksenia Melnikova. East and West Germans celebrate the 28th anniversary of German reunification. For many years, while they lived on opposite sides of the Berlin Wall, they dreamed of restoring the unity of the nation. But when this finally happened, it turned out that they were still separated by a wall - in traditions, mentality, upbringing, income and even language. East Germans admit that with the disappearance of the GDR they lost their homeland, and remember the socialist past with warmth, often highly idealizing it.
Baba Yaga and Spreewald cucumbers
“This summer I went to the next reunion of our school’s alumni. We see each other every five years. Now I live in Holland, but for this I come to Germany,” says Heidi Coolen. In addition to school albums with photographs, former classmates bring chocolate, Little Red Riding Hood champagne, the famous Spreewald cucumbers, lecho, mustard from the Saxon Bautzen and an analogue of American cola - ClubCola lemonade, popular in the GDR. Everyone remembers together how they went to the UPC (Unterrichtstag in der Produktion), collected potatoes, and laugh at how they are portrayed as “Wessy”.
In modern Germany, things and objects associated with the socialist past are in great demand: kitchen utensils, chandeliers, toothbrushes, porcelain figurines made in the GDR. East Germans are helped to rewind time and go back several decades into the past by retro food shops and restaurants, which are opening more and more every year. There are magazines, books and films about life in the GDR.
“I rewatch Soviet fairy tale films with great pleasure. Baba Yaga and the hut on chicken legs are simply beyond competition. Nowadays you won’t find anything like this,” admits 40-year-old Sandra Dogan. According to her, today much of what was in the GDR is missing. "Back then, every child was guaranteed a place in kindergarten, it was easy to go to university, medicine was free, no unemployment, people were more friendly. Everything we did was appreciated, nothing was left unattended,” she lists RIA Novosti.
Frau Gert, who is already over eighty, agrees with her: “There used to be order. We lived together, worked, were confident in the future. In the village, neighbors helped each other, everyone was like one family.” An elderly woman complains that now everyone is on their own, “behind their own fence.”
“At that time there were many youth organizations, but today’s teenagers simply don’t know what to do with themselves: they either sit with their eyes glued to their cell phones or are stuck in front of their monitors. And school program was much more effective,” regrets Frankfurt-on-Oder resident Holger Rehnitz.
The issue of pensions is especially acute. Angela Merkel promised to equalize them by 2025, but so far the difference is noticeable. Sometimes the gap reaches 450 euros, writes Spiegel. “I have lived in Thuringia since childhood, worked as a bus driver all my life, and my pension is less than that of many other Germans,” Ralf Schwieder complains in a conversation with RIA Novosti (he asked to change his real name).
In the position of the humiliated
The GDR and West Berlin became part of the Federal Republic of Germany in 1990, but in essence it was annexation. On the territory of the former socialist state, the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Germany of 1949 was put into effect, banknotes were changed, and military personnel, officials and intelligence officers were subject to lustration.
Symbol of the Cold War: The Berlin Wall25 years ago, the Berlin Wall, the fortified border of the GDR with West Berlin, fell. According to Russian historians, while trying to cross it, 192 people died, about 200 were injured, and more than 3 thousand were arrested.The differences in the mentality of “Ossies” and “Wessies,” as they ironically called each other, have not been erased to this day. “The wall is in our heads,” the Germans themselves say. “West Germans usually end up in the elite; there is real cultural colonialism, and we are also talking about the authorities in the eastern states themselves,” says Thomas Kruger, head of the Federal Agency for Civic Education. He is one of the few "Ossies" who made their way into power. The fact that the highest post in the country is occupied by East German-born Angela Merkel only smooths the situation a little.
In the east they admit that they often feel inferior citizens, they believe that as a result of the unification, “their homeland was defamed,” and they themselves found themselves “in a position of humiliation.” No wonder - they paid dearly for the unification.
The conditions are dictated by Germany
Immediately after the fall of the Berlin Wall, the German authorities told their newfound compatriots that their technology was ten years behind and their economy was uncompetitive. All large enterprises of the former GDR decided to close: millions were left without work. This fate befell the Brandenburg Iron and Steel Works, the largest in the eastern lands. Back in the 1970s, it produced 2.3 million tons of steel a year, employing ten thousand people. The united country did not need this steel, and in 1992 the Brandenburg Industrial Museum was opened on the territory of the plant.
Unemployed "Ossies" in search of better life went west. Those who previously managed entire enterprises began sweeping the streets and delivering goods.
Currently, the industry of the eastern lands accounts for no more than ten percent of the German economy. Family income levels are approximately 20 percent lower. And the average cost of one hour of working time is seven euros less. Many people prefer to work in the West, coming home only on weekends. Due to the strong outflow of population and low birth rates, demographic problems arose in the territory of the former GDR.
Surveys conducted in the country public opinion have repeatedly shown that the Ossies are prone to nostalgia for their old way of life. Almost half of the population of East Germany is sure that “there was more good than bad in the GDR, there were problems, but one could live with them,” and “the people actually lived happier and more prosperous than in Germany after unification.” Young people do not agree with this: the new generation likes to live in a united country, and they know about the wall only from the stories of loved ones or from history lessons.
The federal government is forced to invest a lot of money in the development of the east, in particular, in improving social security. Several trillions of dollars have already been pumped into the economy of the former GDR. Some eastern lands spend more budget funds than they earn.
It was not possible to erase the differences in the mentality of East and West Germans after a split that lasted more than forty years in a quarter of a century. However, culture and sports come to the rescue. The Germans admit that they feel truly united during the Olympic Games, as well as the World and European Football Championships.
