Turn and changes in East Germany – 20 Years after the Fall of the Wall

The fall of the Berlin Wall twenty years ago ushered in a time of profound upheaval for East Germany; upheaval throughout all aspects of political, economic and social life. This triggered new developments with unforeseeable outcomes still having effects today, and this is one reason for the social sciences, even two decades after the events of November 1989, to look at the effects this rupture had on East German federal states and to seek explanatory approaches for current phenomena.

This current issue of Research Special compiles references from publications and research projects which take up questions of social and economic changes in the “new“ German federal states and with the state of internal unity, among other issues.

What are the causes of the long persisting differences between East and West Germany? What characteristics marked the transformation process following the turn of events in 1989? To what extent can characteristic phenomena in East Germany today be ascribed to these? Can a convergence nevertheless be detected or are certain trajectories solidifying? Even after twenty years of German unity is there still the “Wall in people’s heads”?

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