Editing German reunification (section)

===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>