Editing German reunification (section)

==Effects==

===International effects===
The reunification made Germany into one of the world's [[great power]]s again. The practical result of the chosen legal model of the unification (the incorporation of the territory of German Democratic Republic by the Federal Republic of Germany, and the continuation of the legal personality of the now enlarged Federal Republic) is that the expanded Federal Republic of Germany inherited the old West Germany's seats at the UN, NATO, the European Communities, and other international organizations. It also continued to be a party to all the [[treaties]] the old West Germany signed prior to the moment of reunification. The Basic Law and statutory laws that were in force in the Federal Republic, as amended in accordance with the Unification Treaty, continued automatically in force but now applied to the expanded territory. Also, the same President, Chancellor (Prime Minister), and Government of the Federal Republic remained in office, but their jurisdiction now included the newly acquired territory of the former East Germany.

To facilitate this process and to reassure other countries, fundamental changes were made to the German constitution. The Preamble and Article 146 were amended, and Article 23 was replaced, but the deleted former Article 23 was applied as the constitutional model to be used for the 1990 reunification. Hence, prior to the five "New Länder" of East Germany joining, the Basic Law was amended to indicate that all parts of Germany would then be unified such that Germany could now no longer consider itself constitutionally open to further extension to include the [[former eastern territories of Germany]], which were now parts of Poland and Russia (the German territory the former USSR annexed was a part of Russia – [[Soviet Russia|a Soviet member state]]) and were settled by [[Polish people|Poles]] and [[Russians]] respectively. The changes effectively formalized the [[Oder–Neisse line]] as Germany's permanent eastern border. These amendments to the Basic Law were mandated by Article I, section 4 of the Two Plus Four Treaty.{{citation needed|date=June 2017}}

===Domestic effects===
Vast differences between former East Germany and West Germany in lifestyle, wealth, political beliefs, and other matters remain, and it is therefore still common to speak of eastern and western Germany distinctly. It is often referred to as the "wall in the head" ({{langx|de|Mauer im Kopf|label=none}}).<ref name="dw1004">{{Cite web |title=Breaking Down the Wall in the Head |url=http://www.dw-world.de/dw/article/0,1564,1344803,00.html |publisher=[[Deutsche Welle]] |date=2004-10-03 |access-date=2009-10-11 |archive-date=23 February 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110223210623/http://www.dw-world.de/dw/article/0,1564,1344803,00.html |url-status=live }}</ref> {{langx|de|Ossis|label=none}} (Easterners) are stereotyped as racist, poor, and largely influenced by [[Russian culture]],<ref>{{cite magazine |author=Cameron |first=Abadi |date=2009-08-07 |title=The Berlin fall |url=https://foreignpolicy.com/articles/2009/06/18/the_berlin_fall?page=0,2 |url-status=dead |magazine=Foreign Policy |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090809203430/http://www.foreignpolicy.com/articles/2009/06/18/the_berlin_fall?page=0,2 |archive-date=2009-08-09 |access-date=2009-10-11}}</ref> while {{langx|de|Wessis|label=none}} (Westerners) are usually considered snobbish, dishonest, wealthy, and selfish. East Germans indicate a dissatisfaction with the status quo and cultural alienation from the rest of Germany, and a sense that their cultural heritage is not acknowledged enough in the now unified Germany. The West, on the other hand, has become uninterested in what the East has to say, and this has led to more resentment toward the East, exacerbating the divide. Both the West and the East have failed to sustain an open-minded dialogue, and the failure to grasp the effects of the institutional path dependency has increased the frustration each side feels.<ref>{{cite journal|last=Schweiger|first=Christian|date=2019|title=Deutschland einig Vaterland?: East-West Cleavages in Germany Thirty Years After Reunification|journal=German Politics & Society|volume=37|issue=3|pages=18–31, 14p|doi=10.3167/gps.2019.370303|s2cid=218888433}}</ref>

The economy of eastern Germany has struggled since unification, and large subsidies are still transferred from west to east. Economically, eastern Germany has had a sharp rise of 10 percent to West Germany's 5 percent. Western Germany also still holds 56 percent of the GDP. Part of this disparity between the East and the West lies in the Western labor unions' demand for high-wage pacts in an attempt to prevent "low-wage zones". This caused many Germans from the East to be outpriced in the market, adding to the slump in businesses in eastern Germany as well as the rising unemployment.<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Peterson |first1=Clarissa |url=http://dx.doi.org/10.4324/9781003147473 |title=Racial Attitudes in America Today |last2=Riley |first2=Emmitt Y |year=2022 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1-003-14747-3 |location=New York |doi=10.4324/9781003147473 |s2cid=247068186 |access-date=6 March 2022 |archive-date=13 February 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240213043454/https://www.taylorfrancis.com/books/mono/10.4324/9781003147473/racial-attitudes-america-today-clarissa-peterson-emmitt-riley-iii |url-status=live }}</ref> The former East German area has often been compared{{By whom|date=March 2023}} to the underdeveloped [[Southern Italy]] and the [[Southern United States]] during [[Reconstruction era of the United States|Reconstruction]] after the [[American Civil War]]. While the economy of eastern Germany has recovered recently, the differences between East and West remain present.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2009/11/underestimating-east-germany/307776/ |title=Underestimating East Germany |date=6 November 2009 |website=The Atlantic |access-date=25 October 2013 |archive-date=11 March 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230311193056/https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2009/11/underestimating-east-germany/307776/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Joffe |first=Josef |date=8 November 2009 |title=After the fall 20 years ago this week, the crumbling of the Berlin Wall began an empire's end |url=http://www.annistonstar.com/pages/full_story/push?article-After+the+fall-+20+years+ago+this+week-+the+crumbling+of+the+Berlin+Wall+began+an+empire-s+end%20&id=4380443-After+the+fall-+20+years+ago+this+week-+the+crumbling+of+the+Berlin+Wall+began+an+empire-s+end&instance=home_opinion |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110707144725/http://www.annistonstar.com/pages/full_story/push?article-After+the+fall-+20+years+ago+this+week-+the+crumbling+of+the+Berlin+Wall+began+an+empire-s+end%20&id=4380443-After+the+fall-+20+years+ago+this+week-+the+crumbling+of+the+Berlin+Wall+began+an+empire-s+end&instance=home_opinion |archive-date=7 July 2011 |access-date=19 October 2010 |website=Anniston Star}}</ref>

[[File:UTafel Deutschland geteilt.jpg|thumb|Placard found in all roads between western and eastern Germany that were blocked during division. Text translated as: "Here, Germany and Europe were divided until 10 December 1989 at 10:15&nbsp;am". The date and time vary according to the actual moment when a particular crossing was opened.]]
Politicians and scholars have frequently called for a process of "inner reunification" of the two countries and asked whether there is "inner unification or continued separation".<ref>{{Cite book |last=Staab |first=Andreas |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=LN6dpmV0p40C&q=Inner+reunification |title=National Identity in Eastern Germany: Inner Unification Or Continued Separation? |publisher=Greenwood Publishing Group |year=1998 |isbn=978-0-275-96177-0 |language=en |access-date=18 May 2022 |archive-date=13 February 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240213043503/https://books.google.com/books?id=LN6dpmV0p40C&q=Inner+reunification |url-status=live }}</ref> "The process of German unity has not ended yet", proclaimed Chancellor [[Angela Merkel]], who grew up in East Germany, in 2009.<ref name="welt.de">{{Cite news |last=Solms-Laubach |first=Franz |date=2009-05-20 |title=Umfrage: Ost- und Westdeutsche entfernen sich voneinander |language=de |work=Die Welt |url=https://www.welt.de/politik/article3775359/Ost-und-Westdeutsche-entfernen-sich-voneinander.html |access-date=19 October 2010 |archive-date=11 March 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230311201053/https://www.welt.de/politik/article3775359/Ost-und-Westdeutsche-entfernen-sich-voneinander.html |url-status=live }}</ref> Nevertheless, the question of this "inner reunification" has been widely discussed in the German public, politically, economically, culturally, and also constitutionally since 1989.

Politically, since the fall of the Berlin Wall, the successor party of the former [[Socialist Unity Party of Germany|East German socialist state party]] has become a major force in German politics. It was renamed [[Party of Democratic Socialism (Germany)|PDS]], and, later, merged with the Western leftist party [[Labour and Social Justice – The Electoral Alternative|WASG]] to form the [[The Left (Germany)|Left Party]] ({{langx|de|Die Linke|label=none}}).

Constitutionally, the Basic Law of West Germany ({{langx|de|[[Grundgesetz]]|label=none}}) provided two pathways for unification. The first was the implementation of a new all-German constitution, safeguarded by a popular referendum. Actually, this was the original idea of the {{langx|de|Grundgesetz|label=none}} in 1949: it was named a "basic law" instead of a "constitution" because it was considered provisional.{{Efn|In fact, a new constitution was drafted by a "round table" of dissidents and delegates from East German civil society only to be discarded later, a fact that upset many East German intellectuals.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Verhoeyen |first=Etienne |date=2005-05-13 |title=Jahrbuch für Forschungen zur Geschichte der Arbeiterbewegung |journal=Brood & Rozen |volume=10 |issue=2 |doi=10.21825/br.v10i2.3145 |s2cid=184882749 |issn=1370-7477|doi-access=free }}</ref>}} The second way was more technical: the implementation of the constitution in the East, using a paragraph originally designed for the West German states ({{langx|de|Bundesländer|label=none}}) in case of internal reorganization like the merger of two states. While this latter option was chosen as the most feasible one, the first option was partly regarded as a means to foster the "inner reunification".<ref>{{Cite web |title=Gastbeitrag: Nicht für die Ewigkeit{{snd}}Staat und Recht{{snd}}Politik |url=https://www.faz.net/s/RubD5CB2DA481C04D05AA471FA88471AEF0/Doc~E4120761F98224225BEB5F94E7F91077D~ATpl~Ecommon~Scontent.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101003232450/https://www.faz.net/s/RubD5CB2DA481C04D05AA471FA88471AEF0/Doc~E4120761F98224225BEB5F94E7F91077D~ATpl~Ecommon~Scontent.html |archive-date=2010-10-03 |access-date=19 October 2010 |website=Faz.net |language=de}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=2009-04-27 |title=Horst Dreier {{!}} Das Grundgesetz{{snd}}eine Verfassung auf Abruf? |url=http://www.das-parlament.de/2009/18-19/Beilage/004.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110718224237/http://www.das-parlament.de/2009/18-19/Beilage/004.html |archive-date=18 July 2011 |access-date=19 October 2010 |website=Das-parlament.de |language=de}}</ref>
A public manifestation of coming to terms with the past ({{langx|de|[[Vergangenheitsbewältigung]]|label=none}}) is the existence of the so-called [[Marianne Birthler|Birthler]]-Behörde, the [[Federal Commissioner for the Stasi Records]], which collects and maintains the files of the East German security apparatus.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Schmalenbach |first=Merle |date=15 January 2009 |title=DDR-Geschichte: Merkel will Birthler-Behörde noch lange erhalten |url=https://www.spiegel.de/politik/deutschland/ddr-geschichte-merkel-will-birthler-behoerde-noch-lange-erhalten-a-601549.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090609181642/http://www.spiegel.de/politik/deutschland/0,1518,601549,00.html |archive-date=9 June 2009 |website=[[Der Spiegel (website)|Spiegel Politik]]}}</ref>

[[File:Ostalgie.jpg|thumb|right|Soviet and GDR Memorabilia for sale in Berlin in 2006]]
[[File:Karte btw linke17z endg.svg|thumb|Percentage of {{ill|Zweitstimme|de|lt=party votes}} for the [[Die Linke|Left Party]] in the [[2017 German federal election|2017 federal election in Germany]]]]
[[File:Btw17afd.svg|thumb|250px|Second vote share percentage for [[Alternative for Germany|AfD]], a [[far-right]] party, in the 2017 federal election in Germany, final results]]
The [[economic reconstruction]] of former East Germany following the reunification required large amounts of public funding which turned some areas into boom regions, although overall unemployment remains higher than in the former West.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Facts about Germany: Society |url=http://www.tatsachen-ueber-deutschland.de/en/society.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100216034813/http://www.tatsachen-ueber-deutschland.de/en/society.html |archive-date=16 February 2010 |access-date=19 October 2010 |website=Tatsachen-ueber-deutschland.de}}</ref> Unemployment was part of a process of deindustrialization starting rapidly after 1990. Causes for this process are disputed in political conflicts up to the present day. Most times bureaucracy and lack of efficiency of the East German economy are highlighted and the deindustrialization is seen as an inevitable outcome of the {{langx|de|Wende|label=none}}. But many critics from East Germany point out that it was the shock-therapy style of [[privatization]] that did not leave room for East German enterprises to adapt, and that alternatives like a slow transition had been possible.{{Efn|For example, the economist [[Jörg Roesler]].<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Verhoeyen |first=Etienne |date=2005-05-13 |title=Jahrbuch für Forschungen zur Geschichte der Arbeiterbewegung |journal=Brood & Rozen |volume=10 |issue=2 |pages=34–46 |doi=10.21825/br.v10i2.3145 |s2cid=184882749 |issn=1370-7477|doi-access=free }}</ref> The historian [[Ulrich Busch]] pointed out that the currency union as such had come too early.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Verhoeyen |first=Etienne |date=2005-05-13 |title=Jahrbuch für Forschungen zur Geschichte der Arbeiterbewegung |journal=Brood & Rozen |volume=10 |issue=2 |pages=5–24 |doi=10.21825/br.v10i2.3145 |s2cid=184882749 |issn=1370-7477|doi-access=free }}</ref>}}

Reunification did, however, lead to a large rise in the average standard of living in former East Germany, and a stagnation in the West as $2 trillion in public spending was transferred East.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Sauga |first=Michael |date=2011-09-06 |title=Help for Poorer Neighbors: Designing a Transfer Union to Save the Euro |language=en |work=Der Spiegel |url=https://www.spiegel.de/international/europe/help-for-poorer-neighbors-designing-a-transfer-union-to-save-the-euro-a-784612.html |access-date=2022-03-05 |issn=2195-1349 |archive-date=14 March 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230314205245/https://www.spiegel.de/international/europe/help-for-poorer-neighbors-designing-a-transfer-union-to-save-the-euro-a-784612.html |url-status=live }}</ref> Between 1990 and 1995, gross wages in the east rose from 35 percent to 74 percent of western levels, while pensions rose from 40 percent to 79 percent.<ref name="parkes1997">{{cite book | title=Understanding contemporary Germany | author=Parkes, K. Stuart | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=htUiBNqUAnYC&q=74%25&pg=PA209 | year=1997 | publisher=Taylor & Francis | isbn=0-415-14124-9 | page=209 | access-date=17 October 2020 | archive-date=13 February 2024 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240213043453/https://books.google.com/books?id=htUiBNqUAnYC&q=74%25&pg=PA209 | url-status=live }}</ref> Unemployment reached double the western level as well. West German cities close to the former border of East and West Germany experienced a disproportionate loss of market access{{clarify|date=April 2018}} relative to other West German cities which were not as greatly affected by the reunification of Germany.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Redding |first1=Stephen J |last2=Sturm |first2=Daniel M |date=2008-11-01 |title=The Costs of Remoteness: Evidence from German Division and Reunification |url=http://dx.doi.org/10.1257/aer.98.5.1766 |journal=American Economic Review |volume=98 |issue=5 |pages=1766–1797 |doi=10.1257/aer.98.5.1766 |s2cid=59469739 |issn=0002-8282 |access-date=6 March 2022 |archive-date=13 February 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240213043624/https://www.aeaweb.org/articles?id=10.1257/aer.98.5.1766 |url-status=live }}</ref>

===Unified Berlin ===
[[File:BrandenburgerTorDezember1989.jpg|thumb|right|Crowds at the Brandenburg Gate on 1 December 1989. The entrance to the Western side was still not opened.]]

While the [[fall of the Berlin Wall]] had broad economic, political, and social impacts globally, it also had significant consequence for the local urban environment. In fact, the events of 9 November 1989 saw [[East Berlin]] and [[West Berlin]], two halves of a single city that had ignored one another for the better part of 40 years, finally "in confrontation with one another".<ref>{{cite journal|last=Grésillon|first=B|title=Berlin, cultural metropolis: Changes in the cultural geography of Berlin since reunification|journal=Ecumene|date=April 1999|volume=6|issue=3|pages=284–294|doi=10.1191/096746099701556286}}</ref> There was a belief in the city that, after 40 years of division, the unified city would be well placed to become a major metropolis.<ref name="Grésillon 1999 284">{{cite journal|last=Grésillon|first=B|title=Berlin, cultural metropolis: Changes in the cultural geography of Berlin since reunification|journal=Ecumene|date=April 1999|volume=6|issue=3|page=284|doi=10.1177/096746089900600303|s2cid=144040097}}</ref><ref name="Tölle 2010 348–357">{{cite journal|last=Tölle|first=A|title=Urban identity policies in Berlin: From critical reconstruction to reconstructing the Wall.|journal=Institute of Socio-Economic Geography and Spatial Management|year=2010|volume=27|issue=5|pages=348–357|doi=10.1016/j.cities.2010.04.005}}</ref>

[[File:KohlModrowMomperBrandenburgerTor.jpg|thumb|right|East German Prime Minister [[Hans Modrow]], [[West German Chancellor]] Helmut Kohl, and [[mayor of West Berlin]] [[Walter Momper]], among other figures, take part in the official opening of the Brandenburg Gate on 22 December 1989.]]
[[File:Berlin Palastabriss1 b.jpg|thumb|right|The [[Palace of the Republic (Berlin)|Palace of the Republic]] was demolished in 2006 to make space for the reconstruction of the [[Berlin City Palace]], which was finished in 2020, but houses the [[Humboldt Forum]] museum.]]
[[File:Landmark Traffic (26992261693).jpg|thumb|right|Traffic crossing the site of the former Wall near the Brandenburg Gate in 2016]]

Another key priority was reestablishing Berlin as the seat of government of Germany, and this required buildings to serve government needs, including the "redevelopment of sites for scores of foreign embassies".<ref name="Loeb 2006 67–87"/>

With respect to redefining the city's identity, emphasis was placed on restoring Berlin's traditional landscape. "Critical Reconstruction" policies sought to disassociate the city's identity from its [[Nazi]] and [[communist|socialist]] legacy, though some remnants were preserved, with walkways and bicycle paths established along the border strip to preserve the memory of the Wall.<ref name="Loeb 2006 67–87"/> In the center of East Berlin, much of the modernist heritage of the East German state was gradually removed.<ref name=UrbanF01/> Unification of Berlin saw the removal of politically motivated street names and monuments in the East in an attempt to reduce the socialist legacy from the face of East Berlin.<ref name="Tölle 2010 348–357"/>

Immediately following the fall of the Wall, Berlin experienced a boom in the construction industry.<ref name="Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development 2003"/> Redevelopment initiatives saw Berlin turn into one of the largest construction sites in the world through the 1990s and early 2000s.<ref name="Schwedler 2001"/>

The fall of the Wall also had economic consequences. Two German systems covering distinctly divergent degrees of economic opportunity suddenly came into intimate contact.<ref name="Frank 2007">{{Cite journal |last=Frank |first=Douglas H. |date=2009 |title=The Effect of Migration on Natives' Employment Outcomes: Evidence from the Fall of the Berlin Wall |url=http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.1021951 |journal=SSRN Electronic Journal |doi=10.2139/ssrn.1021951 |s2cid=18564127 |issn=1556-5068 |access-date=6 March 2022 |archive-date=13 February 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240213043505/https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=1021951 |url-status=live }}</ref> Despite development of sites for commercial purposes, Berlin struggled to compete in economic terms with Frankfurt which remained the financial capital of the country, as well as with other key West German centers such as [[Munich]], [[Hamburg]], [[Stuttgart]] and [[Düsseldorf]].<ref name="Krätke 2004 511–529">{{cite journal|last=Krätke|first=S|title=City of talents? Berlin's regional economy, socio-spatial fabric and "worst practice" urban governance|journal=International Journal of Urban and Regional Research|year=2004|volume=28|issue=3|pages=511–529|doi=10.1111/j.0309-1317.2004.00533.x}}</ref><ref name="Häußermann 2005 189–222">{{Cite book |last1=Häußermann |first1=Hartmut |chapter=Berlin: From Divided to Fragmented City? |last2=Kapphan |first2=Andreas |year=2013 |title=The Berlin Reader |publisher=Transcript Verlag |isbn=978-3-8376-2448-9 |pages=77–94 |doi=10.14361/transcript.9783839424780.77 |doi-access=free}}</ref> The intensive building activity directed by planning policy resulted in the over-expansion of office space, "with a high level of vacancies in spite of the move of most administrations and government agencies from Bonn".<ref name="Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development 2003" /><ref>{{Cite book |date=2003-06-06 |title=Urban Renaissance |url=http://dx.doi.org/10.1787/9789264101470-en |pages=20 |doi=10.1787/9789264101470-en |isbn=978-9264101463 |access-date=6 March 2022 |archive-date=13 February 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240213042940/https://www.oecd-ilibrary.org/urban-rural-and-regional-development/urban-renaissance_9789264101470-en |url-status=live }}</ref>

Berlin was marred by disjointed economic restructuring, associated with massive [[deindustrialization|deindustrialisation]].<ref name="Krätke 2004 511–529"/><ref name="Häußermann 2005 189–222" /> Economist [[Oliver Marc Hartwich]] asserts that, while the East undoubtedly improved economically, it was "at a much slower pace than [then Chancellor Helmut] Kohl had predicted".<ref>{{Citation |last=Kubicek |first=Paul |editor-first1=Katharina |editor-first2=Jana Evans |editor-last1=Gerstenberger |editor-last2=Braziel |title=The Diminishing Relevance of Ostalgie 20 Years after Reunification |work=After the Berlin Wall |year=2011 |publisher=Palgrave Macmillan |doi=10.1057/9780230337756 |isbn=978-0230337756 |s2cid=183674585 }}</ref> Wealth and income inequality between former East and West Germany continued for decades after reunification. On average, adults in the former West Germany had assets worth 94,000 euros in 2014 as compared to the adults in the former communist East Germany which had just over 40,000 euros in assets.<ref>{{Cite news|title = Germany's wealth distribution most unequal in euro zone: study|url = https://www.reuters.com/article/us-germany-wealth-idUSBREA1P1VJ20140226|newspaper = Reuters|date = 26 February 2014|access-date = 23 September 2015|archive-date = 23 September 2015|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20150923111850/http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/02/26/us-germany-wealth-idUSBREA1P1VJ20140226|url-status = live}}</ref>
The fall of the Berlin Wall and the factors described above led to [[mass migration]] from East Berlin and East Germany, producing a large labor supply shock in the West.<ref name="Frank 2007"/> Emigration from the East, totaling 870,000 people between 1989 and 1992 alone,<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Mellor |first=R.E.H. |date=April 1996 |title=Book Reviews: Eric Owen Smith 'The German Economy' Routledge, London, 1994, pp. 592, ISBN 0-415-06288-8 |url=http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/096977649600300212 |journal=European Urban and Regional Studies |volume=3 |issue=2 |pages=185–186 |doi=10.1177/096977649600300212 |s2cid=153436467 |issn=0969-7764}}</ref> led to worse employment outcomes for the least-educated workers, for blue-collar workers, for men, and for foreign nationals.<ref name="Frank 2007"/>

At the close of the century, it became evident that despite significant investment and planning, Berlin was unlikely to retake "its seat between the European Global Cities of [[London]] and [[Paris]]", primarily due to the fact that Germany's financial and commercial capital is located elsewhere ([[Frankfurt]]) than the administrative one (Berlin), in resemblance of Italy ([[Milan]] vs [[Rome]]), Switzerland ([[Zürich]] vs [[Bern]]), Canada ([[Toronto]] vs [[Ottawa]]), Australia ([[Sydney]] vs [[Canberra]]), the US ([[New York City]] vs [[Washington, DC]]) or the Netherlands ([[Amsterdam]] vs [[The Hague]]), as opposed to London, Paris, [[Madrid]], [[Vienna]], [[Warsaw]] or [[Moscow]] which combine both roles.<ref name="Tölle 2010 348–357"/>

Yet, ultimately, the disparity between East and West portions of Berlin has led to the city achieving a new urban identity. A number of locales of East Berlin, characterized by dwellings of in-between use of abandoned space for little to no rent, have become the focal point and foundation of Berlin's burgeoning creative activities.<ref name=":1">{{Cite journal |last=Jakob |first=Doreen |date=December 2010 |title=Constructing the creative neighborhood: Hopes and limitations of creative city policies in Berlin |url=https://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S1877916611000063 |journal=City, Culture and Society |language=en |volume=1 |issue=4 |pages=193–198 |doi=10.1016/j.ccs.2011.01.005 |access-date=6 March 2022 |archive-date=8 March 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220308193549/https://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S1877916611000063 |url-status=live }}</ref> According to Berlin Mayor [[Klaus Wowereit]], "the best that Berlin has to offer, its unique creativity. Creativity is Berlin's future."<ref name=":1" /> Overall, the Berlin government's engagement in creativity is strongly centered on marketing and promotional initiatives instead of creative production.<ref>{{Cite journal |title=Presse- und Informationsamt der Bundesregierung (BPA) |url=http://dx.doi.org/10.1163/9789004337862_lgbo_com_161075 |access-date=2022-03-06 |website=Lexikon des gesamten Buchwesens Online |date=2017 |doi=10.1163/9789004337862_lgbo_com_161075 |archive-date=13 February 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240213044111/https://referenceworks.brillonline.com/entries/lexikon-des-gesamten-buchwesens-online/*-COM_161075 |url-status=live }}</ref>