German Unity Day is a public holiday – but many people also view reunification with conflicting feelings. Both in politics and in society.
One person looks with confidence at German unity and developments in eastern Germany: Chancellor Olaf Scholz. He thinks that the Germans have every reason to be confident on October 3rd: “The fact that the most modern factories are being built in eastern Germany with semiconductor production, battery production, electric vehicles that are manufactured there – that’s all a good thing Sign.”
Deficits in the standard balance sheet
In fact, good signs are desperately needed. Despite the investments in technologies, science and research, for example in former coal regions, there are deficits in the standard balance sheet. And they have a story.
One point: the distribution of wealth. On average, people between the Baltic Sea and the Erzgebirge have significantly less than further west. Another topic: emigration. The East is still suffering from the consequences. Since the 1990s, people have been missing everywhere, says the Federal Government’s Eastern Commissioner, Carsten Schneider (SPD). Not only skilled workers, but also workers are missing – and accordingly immigration and integration as well as return migration are “the central factor in achieving economic prosperity”.
East Germany at a political crossroads?
Nevertheless, the East is catching up: its economic power is 79 percent compared to the West, and gross wages are 86 percent. Only gradually are more people of East German origin making it to management levels. Their share of the population in this country is 20 percent. In management positions it is only 12.2 percent.
In view of these figures, Dietmar Bartsch, leader of the Left parliamentary group in the Bundestag, states that the country is clearly far from unity. Given the political dissatisfaction, he believes that East Germany is at a political crossroads. Elections are scheduled to take place in Thuringia, Saxony and Brandenburg in 2024. AfD leader Alice Weidel is confidently expecting record results for her party. The surveys prove her right and cause excitement. However, it should not be forgotten that the AfD is more popular in the East, but hardly has a majority.
Social Climate contested
In any case, the social climate is competitive, according to Gesine Grande’s analysis. She is President of the Brandenburg Technical University Cottbus-Senftenberg. Its students and teachers come from 125 countries. Unlike university bosses in West Germany, Grande cannot avoid getting involved in the socio-political debate and showing her colors. She says: “I see an absolute necessity for us to form alliances with people who have retained their courage, who have ideas, who really want to invest in their regions.”
Gesine Grande believes that many AfD voters are not incorrigible Nazis, but rather people who are at a loss. She regrets that the perception of the East is so strongly influenced by the view of the right. After all, she knows so many who oppose it.
Worried about image
Wherever things go uphill, there are fears for the region’s good reputation. Because you rely on it, especially when it comes to recruiting skilled workers. This is also the case at the Elbe aircraft works in Dresden. People from 30 nations work here, boss Jordi Boto himself comes from Spain and is desperately looking for specialists – practically all over the world. He is of the opinion:
If Saxony is associated with a xenophobic image and that’s what comes up when you google the location, then you can imagine that many people won’t apply to us.
Today the East is facing a second transformation as it bids farewell to the fossil era. The first one after the fall of the Berlin Wall – with all the slumps and upheavals suffered individually – has left deficits to this day. Perhaps this is one of the reasons why some people find it difficult to achieve the confidence that the Chancellor would like to spread.