Thirty-five years after the fall of the Berlin Wall: what’s new in the East?
As we celebrate the 35th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall on November 9, 2024, let’s start from the premise that the Berlin Wall did not “fall” on the night of November 9, 1989.
The process that led to its “opening” was based on the mobilization of GDR citizens aspiring to democracy, and intensified in the autumn of 1989, culminating on November 9 and paving the way for German unification on October 3, 1990. Thirty-five years after the fall of the Berlin Wall, is it still time to celebrate in East Germany?
- Even if there are tangible signs that economic catch-up has largely been achieved, the division between East and West Germany remains strong in many economic and social areas.
- The sense of political, economic and cultural domination by West Germans is catalyzing frustration in the eastern Länder.
- Recent historic highs for populist parties, notably the far-right Alternative für Deutschland (AfD) in Thuringia, Saxony and Brandenburg, appear to be driving eastern Germany further away from the German democratic model.
- Successful cooperation initiatives between France and East Germany could help redefine a Franco-German relationship that is still very much rooted in the West.
Paul Maurice is Secretary General of The Study Committee on Franco-German Relations (Cerfa) at Ifri, where he focuses on German domestic policy, Franco-German relations within the European Union, and German foreign and security policy.
This publication is available in French (pdf): "Trente-cinq ans après la chute du mur de Berlin : à l’Est quoi de nouveau ?"
Also available in:
Themes and regions
Share
Download the full analysis
This page contains only a summary of our work. If you would like to have access to all the information from our research on the subject, you can download the full version in PDF format.
Thirty-five years after the fall of the Berlin Wall: what’s new in the East?
Related centers and programs
Discover our other research centers and programsFind out more
Discover all our analysesState Elections in Thuringia, Saxony and Brandenburg - Extreme Parties on the Rise?
The Alternative for Germany (AfD) became Germany's strongest political force in the regional elections in Thuringia and Saxony.
Ensuring a Fair Green Transition
“Humanity has opened the gates of hell”, stated UN Secretary-General António Guterres at the Climate Ambition Summit in September 2023, emphasising that we are currently on a path of global warming above 2.4°C or even 2.9°C.
Between „Strategic Autonomy” and „Zeitenwende”: The Importance of Trade Between The EU and Mercosur
This policy paper analyses the geopolitical and economic significance of the EU-Mercosur agreement for the European Union (EU) in the context of the EU’s new European Economic Security Strategy.
Neither Left nor Right, but Both? The Sahra Wagenknecht Alliance (BSW) in the Wake of European Elections
The 2024 European elections not only provided the occasion for a new German party, the “Bündnis Sahra Wagenknecht” (BSW), to emerge but also to obtain 6.2% of the vote.