Why Germany is Still Divided 30 Years Later

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Three decades after the fall of the Berlin Wall and German reunification, many Germans think the country is more divided than united. So in this video, we'll explore this persistent East-West divide, the root causes of it and whether this could change.
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1 - www.stern.de/politik/deutsche...
2 - www.thelocal.de/20230926/33-y...
3 - / cx7ongkgvfv
4 - en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of...
5 - www.n-tv.de/politik/Lohnlueck...
6 - www.bundesbank.de/en/tasks/to...
7 - www.pewresearch.org/short-rea...
8 - www.demogr.mpg.de/papers/work...
9 - www.stern.de/politik/deutsche...
10 - economic-research.bnpparibas....
11 - www.ifz-muenchen.de/en/news/t...
12 - www.ifo.de/en/press-release/2...
13 - mondediplo.com/2019/11/06germany
14 - www.econstor.eu/bitstream/104...
15 - www.bundesregierung.de/breg-d...
16 - www.dw.com/en/33-years-later-...
17 - www.reuters.com/article/us-ge...
18 - www.dw.com/en/how-much-did-re...
19 - www.destatis.de/EN/Themes/Soc...
20 - www.ft.com/content/f1d0e732-d...
21 - en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gigafac...
22 - www.ft.com/content/8cb93bc0-d...
23 - www.dw.com/en/germany-intel-s...
24 - www.dw.com/en/germany-study-s...

[@nomore2863]

Imagine if the Koreas were unified...the differences there are beyond comprehension

[@RabbitShirak]

S Korea's economy would collapse.

[@LMB222]

South Korea doesn't want to directly unify North Korea - they've learned from the huge failure that German "unification" was.

[@1wun1]

It'd depend on who won

[@nickfifteen]

As a Korean-American who has paid attention to the split of my family lands... the split is HORRIFYING. For example, the East/West German economy divide was like 1:3 to 1:5 or so (as in, the economy of the East was 1/3rd to 1/5th that of the West). For North and South Korea, IIRC it's 1 to 20. Furthermore, a lot of the DPRK's survival comes from China wanting a buffer state between itself and US bases in ROK (as well as to avoid a refuge crisis of Koreans rushing to their own border), so the DPRK will only get worse while China continues to prop it up. If Korea reunifies, it almost has to be done as some kind of federal system where the North remains isolated and is SLOWLY brought into Southern standard, not shocked into modernity like post-Soviet Russia and other East Bloc nations... even if it has to take 25 years to pull off. And I guarantee that South Korean politicians and economists have paid attention to what worked (and didn't work) with German Reunification. And even tho I have absolutely zero sympathy for the DPRK government, one thing I do have legitimate concern for should North and South reunify are Southern Carpetbaggers taking advantage of a Northerner's desperation and ignorance, and giving them peanuts for their property. The North/South divide is also such that very few Koreans even remember a unified Korea, and my Korean friends and relatives have essentially given up on reunification. Like, of course they support it in theory, but they know it'll never happen anytime soon, short of something like World War 3. It's a truly depressing state of affairs.

[@baronvonjo1929]

​@nickfifteen I don't mean to act like I know everything. But I think North Koreans would struggle to integrate into the rather bleak economic, work, and social culture of SK. Based on all the studies and media that comes out of South Korea. It doesn't seem like the best place to live for your mental health. Maybe the new shiny aspect and materialism would make North Koreans happy for a moment. But overall they would begin to struggle I suspect.

[@iPlayGamesITA]

"And you're even complaining?" Me, an Italian, with a worse north-south divide existing since 1861

[@kurteisner67]

Me, a German-Italian whose father is from Campania and mother from Brandenburg: lul

[@LMB222]

Sure for longer.

[@giulianopisciottano8302]

In realtà la divisione nord/sud esiste da prima della creazione del paese, già prima eravamo più poveri

[@thepatriarchy819]

​@@giulianopisciottano8302We here in Sicily are going good if you work hard.

[@giulianopisciottano8302]

@@thepatriarchy819 si ma mai quanto il nord, il sud già dal regno delle due Sicilie era uno stato agrario e povero rispetto al nord più industrializzato, la divisione nord/sud è molto difficile da colmare

[@ahdhudbbh]

Apparantly the north south divides in the UK & Italy are worse than the east west divide in Germany. The Germans seem to have done an amazing job integrating East Germany.

[@thegamingwolf5612]

I mean the South side of italy has a rich history and has not been part of an italian state for longer periods

[@XMysticHerox]

Well unlike the UK and Italy Germany has massive government programs to alleviate the divide.

[@sentryion3106]

@@thegamingwolf5612isn’t Italian technically a younger country than Germany? Before the Holy Roman Empire just as if not more fragmented than the Italian city states

[@thegamingwolf5612]

@@sentryion3106 depends on how you define the holy roman empire northern italy was also part of the holy roman empire for a long time While southern italy was part of the greek byzantine empire and later the normans and after that the spanish

[@mhak477]

​​@@sentryion3106 i believe Germany is younger than italy not sure

[@joeyjojojrshabadoo7462]

It's important remember that Germany actually only united relatively recently as well (1866) there are still quite a few cultural divisions between east and west which predates the literal wall.

[@alexandervollmer9549]

I would say the cultural divides are stronger between the north and south than east and west

[@SamFromItalia]

@@alexandervollmer9549 Yeah I'd say the cathlic protestant divide is more relevant, even if the Reds made the protestants convert I'd say they likely kept most of there previous culture

[@mrgalaxy396]

I mean pretty much every country has regional differences in culture. I am from a small country in the Balkans and you could still find like 5 distinct cultural regions.

[@joeyjojojrshabadoo7462]

Out of interest what (if any) division was there between North and South Korea before the divide from the doesn't seem to be much information on the subject that isn't directly through the lens of the cold war.

[@croatianwarmaster7872]

​@@mrgalaxy396Are we of the same ethnicity?

[@8ig0r86]

You guys could do a sequel to this video explaining why Poland is still divided *228* years later

[@markholland7322]

IMO this is the result of the postwar reconstruction strategy of socialist Poland: the new territories in the west and north were completely rebuilt including modern industrial activity and a new relocated population, whereas the southeastern part remained largely agricultural.

[@LMB222]

The answer is very simple: Russia. And primary education. While the German (Prussian back then) administration forced everyone to learn "to read and calculate" very early in the 19th century, Russia didn't do squat in their zone. The result is that there are people in Poland's east, whose grandparents may be illiterate. This, of course, makes them way more susceptible to the populist bullcrap of the ruling party. PS this isn't to praise Prussia, as Austria introduced education half a century earlier.

[@LMB222]

​@@markholland7322sorry, but it was actually the opposite: commies pumped a lot of resources into the East to level out the differences. But they pretended not to notice that the level of vocational education in the West was on a Czech and German level, while in the East it was practically non-existent, so trying to establish advanced (as for 1950's) industry in the East fared poorly. Compare: communist businesses in the West largely survived the end of communism; they may have been split or cut, but a lot of them exist, even if they assemble products for an EU company. Same factories in the East fared much, much poorer. Many have been helped multiple times but went belly up nonetheless.

[@goatgamer001]

228 is the Extreme date. The correct number should be 105 years later

[@ugbuga]

@@LMB222 now its Russia´s fault that Poles can´t Read fucking hilarious LMFAOOO

[@theconqueringram5295]

Germany was divided for 45 years, unification was 33 years ago. Overcoming these divisions takes time, but there is progress.

[@rodmarker2071]

The UK has managed it since 1707 ... LoL this is joke 'journalism'

[@Andreas-pj6np]

​@@rodmarker2071so there's no divide in the UK, that's why every region has major independence movements.

[@SonnyDarvishzadeh]

As a foreigner who landed in Berlin, I felt the difference while living 1.5 years in Berlin and much more after I moved to other western side cities in 3 different states.

[@LMB222]

Berlin is a basket case in its own way. There's not only the difference between East and West, but also mental remnants of being locked up (walled) for almost 30 years.

[@christopherb.2986]

differences between what? between berlin and cities in the west? berlin is a big anomaly and does definitely not represent "the east")

[@SonnyDarvishzadeh]

​@@christopherb.2986 I am talking about both the East and West for Berlin and the entire Germany. I have lived in 4 different units in Berlin and also lived in and or visited Leipzig, Hanover, Hamburg, Bremen, Rhine-Ruhr region, Frankfurt, Munich, Karlsruhe and Freiburg, etc. The reason for visiting and moving so many times is that I couldn't believe the city of Berlin is the capital of a country that drives Germany and Europe. That's how I learned Berlin is truly an anomaly. Almost in every other country the capital is on top of other cities.

[@BamesJond0070]

@@SonnyDarvishzadehThe fact that Berlin is worse than every west German state by any standard while being the "superior" anomaly in eastern Germany says a lot. On the other hand, west Germany alone would be an anomaly in Europe regarding its economic power (and every other metric).

[@rodmarker2071]

as a national born in the UK - I had to leave the country as I have a Northern accent and can't talk posh. Germany is much more united than the UK ever will be

[@user-propositionjoe]

Considering it was two different countries and it's not been that long since reunification I'd say Germany has done a pretty good job. It you drive to the east from the west you will also notice all the roads and other infrastructure seems so new compared to the west which was all built in the 70s and is now all under construction. The money invested into the east is insane.

[@Dave1507]

We visited a small village in the east a few years back (I'm from NRW), the money was spent on their market place and church, but as soon asl you left that small but beautifully restored place, it was all mudpaths and ruined houses.

[@sloideh]

Was born in 02. So sometimes it still baffles me that germany was split like that so recently. Since all i have ever known was germany like it is now. Same goes for the whole ussr. In my mind it feels like a thing from the 60s more so than something existing during the 90s.

[@jeremybird5739]

That was a good report, but it missed a couple of important details. The firms in the 90s couldn't compete because they couldn't get loans to upgrade their capital. The western banks claimed they didn't know them and couldn't trust them. This lead to a fire sale of businesses and buildings. Today in the east 70% of people rent, compared to only 30% in the west. Those buildings are primarily owned by people in the west. That is a massive private transfer of wealth from the east to the west. To compensate for this the average person in the west has to pay extra tax, which they (understandably) resent. They can't see the indirect benefits. The east resents the west lording the transfers over them. The rest of the divide is superficial, probable equal to the difference between north and south.

[@catriona_drummond]

The shock to the Eastern economy was not dissimilar to what Britain faced after entering the European Monetary System (or the ERM), in October 1990 at a very high exchange rate. With the pound exchange rate being too high they stalled their economy and had to catastrophically bail out of the system in 1992. East Germany was under the same effect introducing the Deutschmark at basically a 1:1 Rate, overvaluing the East German Mark by 10 to 20fold. While Britain drove into a recession, East German industry basically completely collapsed due to the shock. The massive infrastructural investments made somewhat up for it but basically it boiled down to building a whole new economy from scratch. The extra tax you are referring to is paid by ALL GERMANS, East Germans also pay Solidarzuschlag. That only the Westerners pay it is a much beloved Western urban legend.

[@XMysticHerox]

An important thing about the DM to mention is that the exchange rate was arbitrarily set at 1:1 when in reality it was closer to 1:4. This basically meant that any debt as well as the wages east german companies had to pay quadrupled over night for no real reason. What should also be mentioned is that initially shares of east German businesses were meant to be distributed among the population. That also did not happen obviously. Then there is also the outright criminal stuff that took place which is worth mentioning. It is estimated that between 3 to 10 billion DM were stolen/embezzled etc. Overall east Germany was basically ransacked by the west following reunification. While yes the east was economically weaker thats not really why the divide is so extreme today. I don't really like the idea that the west simply "outcompeted" the east though yes that played a role as well.

[@thorH.]

Since Unification the west pair app. 1.6 Trillion Euros to East Germany to rebuild mostly infrastructure and pay social welfare. The east was not ransacked by Westgermany, it was just struggling under soviet rule. I am sick of this narrative, obviously not everything went perfect after reunification, but who in their right mind would expect that. Western Germany did take a huge economic hit for many years paying for reintegration. But thats worth it. Eastern Germany did also grow a lot, but not faster than the West.

[@LMB222]

Poland distributed the shares of some state-owned companies and it didn't do any good - people immediately sold those certificates.

[@Tribuneoftheplebs]

​@danielhalachev4714 Profit? Doubtful. Because everyone gets shares all at once there is a market glut and they all want profit.. what happens is they sell the shares for pennies on the dollar to rich men who turn themselves into oligarchs. Exactly what happened to Russia

[@billyungen]

Simply "outcompeted"? Absolutely. The concept of "competition" in an economy does not exist in a communist, state-run. planned economy. The Communist Government of East Germany had systematically shut down every family business in East Germany. Pride of craftsmanship had become non-existent in the state-run companies -- which had a monopoly and, therefore, no impetus to respond to consumer needs or wants. East German state-run companies produced shoddy goods on the Soviet model, and those goods were unmarketable in a competitive economy. For example: Trabants on the West German roads? The Trabant was a motorcycle with three wheels and a car body slapped on top of it. It was not a real automobile. For another example: One of the newest factories in East Germany made large screen televisions (long after they had been available in the West); however, the East German version was black & white, NOT color. how many consumers in the West would buy a large screen black & white television? A state-run economy simply never works. First of all, when small businesses and entrepreneurs are stifled and eliminated, there is no resilience in any economy, no flexibility to respond to changing economic conditions; neither is there the pride of ownership and craft that comes with individual ownership. Aside from shops like bakeries, there were almost no privately owned businesses in East Germany (in fact, bakeries are among the few businesses that have consequently survived the transition). There is no place on earth where a state-run, planned economy has ever flourished. East Germany was no exception. Half century of Communist ideology eliminated the concept of "competition" -- they could NOT compete.

[@XMysticHerox]

Still a lot better than getting nothing. Also Poland was the first eastern bloc country to reach it's previous GDP. This took a significantly longer 24 years for east Germany. @@LMB222

[@badluck5647]

North and South Carolina could never have a similar unification. The difference in mustard-based and vinegar-based BBQ sauces is too vast.

[@JustANervousWreck]

As a South Carolinian, I agree

[@TSGPhilipp]

In Germany its between Mayo-based and Vinegar-based Potato Salad

[@ph5832]

TAR!!

[@ph5832]

or warm vs. cold potato salad @@TSGPhilipp

[@Anthony-jo7up]

North and South Dakota would struggle to close the nuclear missile silo gap

[@MeaParvitas96]

Okay, as a German the way you pronounce "Treuhandanstalt" at 4:09 sounds so funny. :D

[@lenkacfk7155]

I had to listen to it several times, couldn't stop laughing! 😂😂 That's what I will call it henceforth!

[@_jpg]

The pronunciation is nearly as catastrophic as the actions of the Treuhand 😅

[@marklisiecki5790]

Very well said 👏

[@JosephSolisAlcaydeAlberici]

The decision to peg East German mark with West German mark 1-to-1 was a big mistake from the start that made areas used to be under GGR economically desolate until recently.

[@ruas4721]

It wasnt 1 to 1, that happend only on paper. The reality was more 1 to 4, one of the major points why eastern enterprises got rect.

[@redwolfnum1068]

wounds of the past never really disappear

[@RichFlemingRealtor]

Great topic

[@tobiwan001]

A few points to consider: 1:33 Wealth here refers to median financial net assets (excluding real estate and pensions and net of debt) 1:53 those are local unemployment numbers. The internationally comparable ILO numbers are much lower. However, I could not find those numbers for East and West, but the overall German unemployment under ILO stats is 3.2% for August 2023. 5:00 The GDR had a special extra low exchange rate for exports. Almost no companies were competitive after reunification and even without the 1:1 exchange rate they would have likely not survived. 7:20 It shows the productivity convergence not the increase in productivity, as the comment suggests 7:45 the main reason for Tesla choosing Brandenburg are the low labour costs. They are 30-35% lower than the pay of other car manufacturers in Germany, it's true though that the availability of land, lower energy costs and lower labour costs are attracting new companies to Eastern and Northern Germany, although the currently wealthiest areas are in the south. Especially in semicoductors, battery production and other high-value energy-intensive manufacturing.

[@stekon9112]

7:45 and they want to employ Poles.

[@Pyrokan]

Okay, you got me with that Freeman sign at 2:10

[@Angelicaarchangelica]

Freemasons's symbol you mean? Yep, where all us wiredoos came from. Some sort pre birth ritual for factory babies🤣🤣🤣😁😏 just kidding, maybe 😏😁🤣😂 It is not the rule of the categorical imperative, is the rule of the ALLEGORICAL imperative 😅

[@dimman90210]

”Die mauer im kopf” is still there

[@henrybn14ar]

Regional economic imbalance is inevitable when tax systems ignore the effects of geographical advantage and disadvantage. The disadvantaged locations are below the margin at which profitable economic activity can take place. This is an example of Ricardo's Law of Rent, which is, apparently not taught in most economics courses.

[@donmeisner4438]

Now imagine the same scenario with the two Koreas times ten.

[@PeakVT]

Reunification of Korea will be a traumatic process for both sides.

[@donmeisner4438]

@@PeakVT And ten times as costly for the South.

[@RabbitShirak]

@@donmeisner4438Think bigger. Hell, N Koreans are physically SMALLER than S Korean because of malnutrition!

[@hiiamelecktro4985]

The Germans never had a full scale war though. I don’t think Korea is every happening

[@asscheeks3212]

​​@@hiiamelecktro4985it will be a nightmare for South Koreans, North Koreans will be extremely socially Conservative compared to the progressive south.

[@BlackWater_49]

4:11 _Treuhandanstalt_ is actually pronounced [ˈtʁɔɪ̯hantˌʔanʃtalt]. It's one of those famous German compound words consisting of _Treuhand_ (trust/escrow) and _Anstalt_ (institute/agency). As a matter of fact _Treuhand_ itself is also a compound word consisting of _treu_ (faithful, loyal, devoted) and _Hand_ (hand).

[@berlindude75]

Approximate English pronunciation: TROY-HUNT-UN-SHTALT

[@BlackWater_49]

@@berlindude75 Can confirm. (Looks horrible though... XD)

[@rosegreensummer]

i remember reading in the paper, everyone in the east was crossing the wall to shop in West Germany, except, the reporter said, a little old lady, who told him she had found loads of bargains in the empty shops of the East, including a carpet she had loved that was now a quarter of the price it was last week

[@uhack2417]

The “link in the description” mentioned in 8:40 is missing

[@christopherb.2986]

ive lived in both parts and i think the divide has been mostly furthered by populist party rhetoric (right and left...); in everyday life the differences are no where near as apparent as people are made to believe.

[@felixmustermann790]

until you come to the simple problems of west germans playing down the east germans fear of another DDR like state surveillance which is slowly happening right now

[@ruas4721]

The financial differences are huge ...

[@NaSaSh1087]

I think there's also a smaller divide between Northern German and Southern Germany.

[@JMWZ_E]

I actually have a mixed East-West background with my mother fleeing across the border before reunification, meeting my father in the West where I grew up. I've been to a small town in the East a few years ago. One evening I went to the ATM which was in the accessible entrance hall of a bank. In the West there is always a little display case with some printed real estate ads - in the rural East these displays were massive and prices were dramatically low. A little house with a garage for a price a Westerner would spend on a new car. Just because so many people are leaving ... and the intra-German migration is mostly young women leading to a male/female-ratio of up to 4:3 in some eastern counties. This is where frustration grows and this is matching election results, causing East German state elections resulting in less stable governments. In the East people got used to the government making most decisions for them - and some still expect this ... politicians from the West are struggling to answer to this demand. And there have been countless humiliations. It took twenty years for the first East German to be appointed to a West German state cabinet while Eastern state governments had 50% Westerners in the early years; many judges in the East are from the West as GDR law degrees were based on a different legal system. When Tesla opened the factory you mentioned with significant subsidies from the Brandenburg (donut-shaped state surrounding Berlin) government, Elon Musk decided to name it "Tesla Berlin" ...

[@henrybn14ar]

Germany should get out of the Euro and have its own currency, scrap VAT, raise the tax free earnings allowance, and introduce a national land value tax. That would fix the problem as much as it can be fixed.

[@catriona_drummond]

I wanted to make my own political decisions. I was ready for it, I wanted to take responsibility. But then they had a Gemeinegebietsreform and a Kreisgebietsreform and another one and suddenly I found myself alienated, in a huge city whose mayor didn't give a poop about my village and never visited it. I demonstrated against it, we sued, nothing helped. Our new West German leaders went through with it. Or take the beautiful small town of Grimma in Saxony as an example. It's the size of Düsseldorf. And has 30k people. We wanted to participate in Democracy in the 90's but one of the first thing they did was taking the easiest and most low level option, the kommunale Selbstverwaltung, away from us. That was the first time I realized something was off about this new and shiny country.

[@JMWZ_E]

@@catriona_drummond Yes, self-governing towns/cities/counties are important ... but these municipal entities cannot be to small, otherwise the cost of administrating these becomes to high. My home state of Northrhine-Westphalia had a huge and controversial municipal redistricting reform in the 1970s - and two generations later there is no real need for another one. Towns >10K population were almost completely incorporated into other towns and cities and people got used to the town and county borders. East-German states (re-established in 1990) are currently in the middle of their third redistricting reform because they are always facing protests like this and are forced into compromising so much that the effect of the reform eventually evaporates. The low and falling population density in Grimma is not the West's fault.

[@catriona_drummond]

You had these reforms 20-25 years into your democracy. Bavaria rolled some of them back. And if you look over the border to Rheinland-Pfalz, things were done quite differently. Grimma didn't actually shrink that much in population, it was bloated in size by the reforms. It really felt like having fought for something, just to have it taken away.

[@munaali840]

@@henrybn14ar the euro helps germany, they are a strong export market only second to china. If they brought back the deutsch mark it would be a string currency and their exports would not be competent I've

[@felip3442]

Wow this video is crazy good

[@-haclong2366]

Whenever you ask a German they will say that "there is no divide, Germans are 1 people" but then you look at literally anything and there are always major cultural differences that they refuse to admit.

[@Dave1507]

You haven't asked enough germans then.

[@XMysticHerox]

Nonsense. There are major cultural differences but those exist between the sotuh and north and are actually much *much* greater than between east and west. Many German regions have very distinct cultures. This is not down to the east/west divide. That is primarily an economic divide. Which yes is acknowledged and constantly talked about. The BDR has also been trying to fix it for a couple of decades now. But after the initial ransacking of the east by the west it is not exactly easy.

[@Janoip]

Germans is quit diverse each state which its own dialect, culture, food etc. Even Today many Germans aren't patriotic for Germany (also because of the ww2 teaching and "teaching "from other countries so we get down) but almost everyone has a ton of patriotism for its Bundesland/Federal State+ often even City & in even smaller Communities, Villages that hate the next one. Strong mix of hate love among North and South People/States. But alot of comes also from history Germany for most of its time was a ton of smaller kingdoms, city states, loosely hold together and competed under each other, but had mostly united defense policy like Holy roman Empire, than politics north german confederation, than Napoleon (for many Germans actually very brutal war) united most bigger states under Preußen/Prussia=Germany was a united country. Even under NS Germany they had its regional, state pride, city states stayed mostly as free city states & not get integrated in another bigger state. And today the East Germans vote far more for Far Right & Far Left, have the most Anti EU/Nato/Usa, Pro Russian people even now because they like russia so much suck a bit more more on china, north korea isnt so bad usa is, iran is nice israel most fall etc. stuff comes more and more.

[@BamesJond0070]

I think a lot of Germans think of something negative if one talks about cultural differences for obvious reasons. Its complicated. If you would ask for obscure or funny differences A LOT comes to mind. An then also real crucial difference. But in my view Germans tend to reduce the differences verbally.

[@rolandroland4366]

you are talking about the cultural differences between different parts of the German people, the video is talking about another subject, the annexation of DDR into BRD and the subsequent problems.

[@Panananananananananananananana]

Where is the link to the split map?

[@artoriastheabysswalker]

I think your video summed up a few important factors, but also left out a few essential ones as well. The so called reunification was more of a annexation, the GDR was absorbed into the FDR and its modus operandi was basically destroyed in favour of implementing the Wests model. This has two major outcomes: Firstly the Westerners see the East largely as a money drain, because, due to the blatant mismanagement of thr Treuhand, the East was economically bankrupt and in need of money. Secondly the Easterner received a huge blow to their existence, both materially and immaterially. They lost their jobs, wealth, ... and got told by the Westerners business man and politicians that flooded into the East that all they ever did was basically worthless, thus hurting their self esteem heavily. This spured resentment in both camps: the Westerners saw the East as nothing but a money drain and the Easterners felt that unification was fundamentally a bad deal. Additionally no major party really cared to alleviate or fix any of these issues, so when a far right populist party (AfD) came along, who are anti-everything, the Easterners saw this as an opportunity to stick it to the establishment (not helped by the fact that the faschos soon jumped on that train and the AfD began to pander to these voters) P.S.: I'm from East Germany, so it's not some outsiders opinion

[@Ganjor420]

well you probably did as good as possible within 10 minutes but there are still sooooo many nuances to this... I wouldn't even know where to start xD

[@MartijnterHaar]

Question: has any attempt been made to quantify how much of the divide is due to the FDR/DDR divide and how much to general economic trends since the 1990s that see economies center on certain urban areas, leaving the countryside behind?

[@catriona_drummond]

The divide is entirely due to the 40 years of separation. The postcommunist economy of the East was suddenly integrated into a high value currency system. The low efficiency, low output, aged production facilities had no time to adapt and modernise while wages suddenly exploded - unlike in other Eastern transfer economies where the transition was more gradual. Most of it was just shut down by the infamous Treuhandgesellschaft. Within 2 years 80% of the East German people lost their jobs, unemployment rates beyond 20% in some areas persisted for decades and of the 16 million East Germans 4 million (mostly younger and better educated ones) left the East for a job and a new life in the West. This killed the demographic pyramid, so even though East very slowly caught up, it is now demographically collapsing fast. Structure is also different. Big parts of the East German economy is production facilities of West German firms while all the R&D, management and other well paying office jobs of those companies remained in the West. It's a very complex topic, but general structural change has not been a too big influence, maybe except the death the German Solar module industry which affected the East a bit. We'll see what happens to the car industry, but the biggest threat to the East German economy is currently just plainly running out of workers. Local demographics are awful and wages lower than in the West so attracting workers is a problem. As for the Concentration in urban areas, yes it is especially massive in east Germany, where basically only Leipzig and Dresden are growing even bigger Cities like Chemnitz, Erfurt or Rostock are shrinking or stagnating. Some smaller industrial towns have lost up to 60% of their population since 1990. Rural social fabric is very brittle.

[@ruas4721]

Well, the divide was not the problem, but how the reunification was done. Actually it was a economical bloodbath with subsidy from the government.

[@GreenichViper]

Congratulation guys - you already attempted the topic of reunification multiple time, but this time, you nailed it. The video is quite representative what's going on and - importantly - what has been going on. Well researched, well done - distinctly recommendable.

[@ImStevan]

It's not linked in the description tho 8:45

[@tDASH97]

i can confirm: there aren't amy morgan freemans in east germany. haven't seen one here ever in my life.

[@bobdebrueken8568]

Do a video about Flanders and Wallonia in Belgium

[@bareloto]

where is the link about west and east?

[@suchendnachwahrheit9143]

You should do one of the North-South divide

[@EmpererDevian]

Brother, the US South and North still feel divided and that split only lasted for like 5 years 150 years ago. I’m not surprised that a full split for several decades 40 years ago isn’t healed yet

[@GameyCat]

Tbf the north south divide in the USA wasn't just 5 years, it was an economic ideology (slaves vs people that weren't slaves) for 90 years upto the civil war

[@nettcologne9186]

I don't know where you get your information from, the unemployment rate is 3% according to Eurostat (August ´23), the fourth lowest in Europe and lower than the UK.

[@AuLumity_idol_is_GawrGura]

The same thing can happen in North Korea and South Korea's reunification. If this happens, it could cause the entire first days of United Korea to be chaotic due to how extremely divided it was.

[@DruidHark]

The lesson to be learned is: Mass Privatisation bad

[@bachvandals3259]

Depend on who will initiate the unification and what method would they use.

[@chinguunerdenebadrakh7022]

It's best to keep in mind East Germany was the most developed country in the former Soviet sphere. North Korea would have been near the lower ranks even in 1991, they have further deteriorated. There was also still decent although restricted flow of information between West and East Germany during the Cold War, Easterners knew very famous Western singers, Western products were often smuggled in, a few people crossed back and forth. None of these exists between the 2 Koreas.

[@_Chad_ThunderCock]

I don't think we'll see Korean unification within our life time

[@tomtom2806]

I think the concept that a country shouldn't show "divisions" is a misconception of egalitarian thinking. Big differences, framed as "divisions'', are quite normal phenomenons of history in countries, societies and nations.

[@quigonjinn3567]

4:12 it's Treu-Hand-Anstalt not Treuhandan-stalt

[@nevigodstanson7160]

Same problem as West and East of Europe: wealth attracts wealth, syphoning resources out of places that aren't willing to make sacrifices to provide better conditions. Not like it's particularly European thing, but the most obvious example.

[@davidblane771]

The east/west divide in Canada is often overlooked. There's an old saying here "it's a 3000km drive from Vancouver to Ottawa, but a 30,000 km drive from Ottawa to Vancouver"

[@remyphilly5168]

Never heard, that before but i hear u bud

[@thom9103]

only someone from the west would think that

[@TheLooking4sunset]

Oh really? I had no idea that issue existed, why is that? Something to do with Hudson company?

[@MegaSavvis]

there's no link to the east/west European divide video in the description...

[@adamandreasen3144]

8:40 I can’t find the video in the description?

[@lorenzociliberto9564]

Well, East Germany is less US-propaganda victim. The can think of theirselves.

[@jascrandom9855]

Its not just economics, but also politics. The more extreme parties (Far-right and Far-left) in Germany get most of their voter support in East Germany.

[@matthewcao2279]

its the equivalent as breaking your arm and having it completely healed. your arm that got your cast off would still feel significantly sore and weaker

[@LMB222]

A bit of background: West Germany didn't "miraculously" grow in the 1950's, and East Germany wasn't that poor in 1945. Both parts come from a state that was well developed following a series of a few very good moves in the 19th century (and earlier in some regions), amd priduced masses of educated workers. The difference is that West Germany was allowed to flourish, while Eadt Germany was "cutring off the coupons of success", i.e. using up what they inherited in 1945, intil the resources ran out in the early 1970's. According to some economists, rhe DDR was richer per capita than the UK all the way up to early 1970's. If you know Germany from the inside, you'll understand that it is a believable theory - although trying to measure GDP in a communist country is like trying to measure the size of the sun with a ruler.

[@LMB222]

Moreover, the success of Czechia and Poland - and probably a lot of other states, but I have no data on them - is credited to the introduction of the German vocational education system, whereby anyone who doesn't get into higher education is practically forced to go into vocational education, where you work and learn 50/50. Compare this to the UK system where kids - yes - go to work at 16 to "learn on the job". I don't know the system from the inside, but the UK doesn't strike me as a country with a high level of manufacturing - you're more likely to find advanced manufacturing in Czechia.

[@alexandrub8786]

Also the Marshall plan in the west germany did give them a leg up. And if the soviet treatment of Germany was anything like Romania they becomed effective colonies for resource extraction.

[@xleplex7070]

⁠@@LMB222 As a British citizen you are pretty much right with what you said. By the age of 16 we can either choose to go into +16 education then university, which is the most common option, or we can work. Although in the past couple of years the laws been changed where British people technically have to be in some sort of education +16, we still have a lot of choice about what we can do and from my observations it doesn’t seem to be well enforced. The reason that the UK doesn’t have high levels of manufacturing is because the conservative government in the 1980’s moved the country from a manufacturing economy to a service economy, so you are right. The UK being a service economy is probably why we have such high levels of university education and why the government wants people to be in +16 education.

[@AFT_05G]

I mean we measure North Korea's GDP and it's a communist nation.And it's always the Marxist historians that claim Eastern bloc had rivaled Western bloc in terms of economic prosperity.

[@S7E_Siriel-Privat]

Just fyi: "Treuhandanstalt" is pronounced: Troy (like the city in Greece) hunt (hunting) an (as in "an-other") stal (as in "stall"-ing an airplane) t

[@piekay7285]

Something that is rarely ever mentioned is that jobs that were done in East Germany beforehand just weren’t worth it in reunified Germany. You don’t need to assemble a car in East Germany if Poland is cheaper. Germany ended up with a lot of people that knew how to do jobs that aren’t needed any more. You can’t fix that in a generation, you need 3 if not 4 if you are lucky

[@tomlimer9734]

As a German I can confirm that he's talking about Why Germany is divided 30 Years later.

[@LMB222]

And 100 years later as well. Why is nobody talking about the South - North divide? The north is stagnating, the south is almost Switzerland.

[@Dave1507]

@@LMB222 because that'S not where the wall was, that's why.

[@zimriel]

@@LMB222catholicism is bad for Spaniards and Portuguese, but seems to be good for Germans

[@luisfernandotapia451]

Funny how the poorest German Bundesländer are comparable to the wealthiest Spanish communities

[@DenzelPF-jl4lj]

Well it's not like you're suddenly entering a third world country when going from the west to the east 😅 And many things have changed already since reunification

[@chellor2018]

As a German i see the GDP per capita is still a bit of a divide problem but i rather tell you from a south north divide if it is more political.

[@MyMy-tv7fd]

this proves that the damage done by socialism and communism takes multiple generations to overcome. Being officially atheist means that the human degradation in morals and culture is worst of all. Atheists believe that any sin they do in this life which they 'get away with' is not going to be paid for when they die - it does not matter whether it is theft or murder, they believe that they will not pay for it. But those who believe in an afterlife do believe that they will be judged for their sins - this was true for ancient Egyptians who believed in Ma'at, and for Japanese Shinto believers, all the way to modern Christians. In Soviet Russia, the cultural degradation spread even to the language, which many educated Russians noted degenerated sharply under communism. Socialism takes many forms like cancer, it starts at Stage 1 and progresses to Stage 4, which is Communism

[@TSGPhilipp]

Bro looked at communism and thought "The worst Thing about this is the Atheism"💀

[@ruas4721]

The damage was made by west germany after the reunification ....

[@VincentAlth]

It'd be awesome to see a video on what Germany's climate policies are and whether they've been successful or not

[@gabor6259]

Decomissioning nuclear power plants and returning to coal? I'd call that highly unsuccessful.

[@VincentAlth]

@@gabor6259 Yeah idk anything about it

[@dainagrn7030]

I want to know climate policies of China, India, generally Asia, Africa, middle east, USA and South America.

[@Maybenotwilliam]

@@dainagrn7030 pretty much non existent.

[@Dangur2]

The main thing is that because of Gulfstream climate in Europe becames more severe not so much from south to north, but from west to east.

[@svartorivigt5016]

This is like the 7th time I watched a video with almost the same title.

[@divinewind6313]

I heard that because of isolation ,Korean language in DPRK is now different to that spoken in ROK.

[@nalisaed8725]

Jag har alltid undrat hur det är att arbeta i McDonald's ände sedan jag var ett barn och hade ätit i restaurangen med min familj. Det som gör McDonald's mest intressant för mig är att den är den typen av jobb där arbetet är jätteberoende till samarbetet mellan kollegorna, sånt medarbete kan definitivt utveckla mina arbetsförmågor. Bra service för mig innebär att kunna fullborda det som kunden vill. De nöjdaste kunderna är de som har haft sina frågor besvarade av personalen. T.ex. en gång jag hade åkt till Stockholms stadsmission för att köpa ett halsduk och därefter jag frågade kassapersonalen hur mycket pengar det finns i alla tre av mina presentkort och han hade tagit tiden för att ge mig ett korrekt svar. Det är sånt service som man behöver och som gör så att kunden vill komma tillbaka till affären eller restaurangen.

[@aycc-nbh7289]

One question I have is why Russia and East Germany made the privatized resources available to just anyone rather than giving the people whose assets were nationalized and their heirs preference. It’d be pretty easy to figure out who owned what prior to nationalizing everything, so why not simply hand it all back?

[@chanlate]

Happiness does not come about only due to external circumstances; it mainly derives from inner attitudes.

[@JLSMaytham]

In a one day old post a link goes to a nonexistent page!

[@thegoodgunner]

tbh the divide happen in most country, south part of a country in the southern part of europe are normally poorer, in the north of europe its the other way with the south of the country been richer

[@stevenleslie8557]

I'm glad to hear about eastern Germany's recovery.

[@ruas4721]

There is no recovery. Huge enterprises like Tesla just abuse the low payments in the east.

[@vic5015]

Years ago, i went to a dinner psrty hosted by a German academic who is a family friend and his wife. Severe of the host's friends who said they were from Eastern Germany were discussing this. They were surprised when i mentioned being aware of the socioeconomic divisions and how, more than 20 years later at the time, those divisiobs had proven stubbornly persistent despite the forner West Germany pledging and spending trillions of deutschmarks in economic aid.

[@ruas4721]

"pledging and spending trillions of deutschmarks in economic aid" well, they did .... after raping eastern germanies economy after the reunification and western companies even got subsidy from the government to do so (or at least the government allowed to do so with its money). Todays bad economic position of eastern germany isnt based on the soviet influence, but on the financial bloodbath that happened after the reunification.

[@smokedbeefandcheese4144]

From what I have read elsewhere people over there struggle because the western German banks were behaving in a predatory fashion. They would not give loans to upgrade capital. And because of this there was a fire sale on a lot of these businesses.

[@MK-rc3pq]

When it comes to wealth there is also a north south divide, with industry being mainly situated in west and south of Germany. As a side note^^ As to why there still is the east west divide, the reason i think is mainly because east german companies were never meant to compete on an open market and were suddenly forced to when Germany was reunited. Many companies went bakrupt or were bought up. Thats why many people from eastern Germany went to the western parts as still today there are more jobs in the west. It will take some more time before this divide will or might get fixed...

[@MaxiTB]

Treuhandanstalt ... haha, that was so unrecognizable I had to rewind the video. It's Treu-hand-anstalt, it's a trust fund agency.

[@barrysteven5964]

You said 'gotten' again. You're from England not Ohio. It sounds silly as though you're trying to sound cool. Just don't. The report however was extremely well researched and I loved that you pointed out that when the two countries came together they didn't merge to create a new country. One side swallowed the other. I don't think the GDR ever forgave the sense of humiliation.

[@rosegreensummer]

they could have helped those businesses to adapt before reunification, but they just looted them for private capital instead

[@DeanFWilson]

While there is still a divide, the fact that they were able to reunite so quickly and successfully is something to be commended.

[@sablinlover1198]

this shows that the annexation of the ddr/gdr was a humanitarian and political mistake

[@dacian_1346]

Tha same happens in Romania between Transylvania and Banat ( western part who îs considerably richer ) and the rest of Romania ( eastern ) or for Italy with north and south.

[@Xamufam]

Make it easier to start small businesses

[@mahe4]

the actual problem that lead to that divide is only shortly mentioned in this video. the problem is, that almost every property was sold to western germany or other western country. nearly no property got into the hands of eastern germany people. the consequence now is, that eastern germans no work for the west and live in houses owned by the west. every money we make through work is automatically tunneled back to where we earned it from. that makes it incredibly hard for a family in eastern germany to rise in economic status. which then also means that eastern germany will always be poorer that western germany. the only way to solve this, without discriminating between eastern and western germany, is by subsidizing middle to lower class startups and taxing big companies more. but that will never happen, because the rich make all decisions in this country.

[@saturationstation1446]

perhaps stop expecting free labor outside of europe if you want to actually make your own money. otherwise you just steal it from those who do make it

[@-haclong2366]

East Germany is still an Eastern European country and follows the same trends, including that of economic growth despite lowering fertility, voting for right wing parties, lower rates of immigrants, Etc.

[@_jpg]

Those "trends" aren't really exclusive to Eastern European countries. Growth despite lowering fertility rates is seen in a lot of countries in the entirety of Europe, and voting for right wing parties as well, they just don't have a majority for now, but if the current governments choose to turn a blind eye on the worries of the people, who are susceptible to populist agendas and rhetoric, it could happen in Western Europe, too :/

[@EllieD.Violet]

@@_jpg Thankfully in Germany the PR system prevents the right-wingers from making it to federal government unless they gain 50+%. No established party is willing to coalite with them. The development in the Netherlands is indeed worrying.

[@robertjohnson6601]

It might have been smart to just allow the two cultures time to know one another. Then let them come together naturally. It was too rushed.

[@8Robba]

The Morgen Freeman bit was funny ^^ also it means I am old. But so are you :D

[@danielkelso1524]

East Germany is, however, way cooler than West Germany. Just a fact. Leipzig, Dresden, Berlin und Potsdam sind alle geile Städte

[@ddr7246]

❤

[@Antonnick]

Nowadays we joke that we should re-establish the dividing wall but make it 2 metres higher.

[@bythewhystreams7510]

As a member of the post " Union" Generation of Eastern Germany I can say that most of us, that have an interest for the matter dont call it a "Reunion" but rather another "Anschluss" or "Rejoining"...

[@cgt3704]

Its the same for us in Romania. Except it includes ethnic issues as well.

[@MichaelSidneyTimpson]

What about Berlin (both east and west), it was completely left out of the discussion?

[@stekon9112]

City of Berlin is poor in Germany. It isnt even in first five rich cities. Almost in every country capital is the rlchest.

[@user-bf1ds9cc8l]

"East Germany has a higher unemployment rate than West Germany" West Germany: Hold my Ruhr Region

[@Misiulo]

The contemorary German mindset is so nihilistic, cynical and hollow. No German movie I watched about the reunification of Germany has any optimistic takeway, or message besides life is weird.

[@grevberg]

When voting about unification, a sizable percentage in Mecklenburg voted to join Sweden

[@TSGPhilipp]

As a German, Thats based af

[@karlsonkopfspalter3127]

There was no vote.

[@Ultima-Signa]

Sounds like a really weird myth 😂😂

[@grevberg]

A business associate in Mecklenburg in the early 90's told me this and since that are used to belong to Sweden I had no reason to to doubt it.@@Ultima-Signa

[@Ultima-Signa]

@@grevberg Sounds Like a lil joke that you took to serious… There Never was any voting in regards to unification and if there was then Sweden wouldn’t have been on any list… like come on now 😅

[@yshwgth]

I wouldn't have thought it possible to mispronounce Treuhandanstalt that much.

[@greyghost4448]

Another interesting difference is, that in the east, with the exception of mayor cities, there is a higher ratio of male to female inhabitants, than in the west.

[@supermatx]

This video was supposed to explanatory and not the "LATEST NEWS" kind of thing. So why didN'T you put the sources of the polls that you use germany and of the Economic data? I don't see the numbers in the corner as you usually do and as Wendover usually does.

[@mattgummerson8370]

They could get a levelling up minister and copy the UK’s success

[@bettyswallocks6411]

Germany is more equal, less divided than the tory Britain (or UK). I’m British, living in Austria. I’ve travelled widely in the EU and especially the UK. Yes, there are differences ib Germany, but the Germans are actively trying to fully integrate the two parts of the country. It was never going to happen overnight, especially given the degradation of the East. Meanwhile, the tories are doing their egregious best to concentrate wealth in the South East of the UK and make the rest fight over scraps.

[@KonradvonHotzendorf]

We also dived north south I am a north 🇩🇪 my brother a south🇩🇪

[@rafaelnunes3628]

That's why people should start thinking and accepting secession as a valid solution. If medium sizes countries like UK, Germany and Italy still face issues like this, imagine in Brazil, Russia, India, USA and Canada.

[@telephilia]

I was in Dresden recently - my fave German city (and I've been both in the East and West.) Much of it beautifully restored from the Allied bombing and drab Soviet era architecture.

[@exdeath64]

Oh gee, it's almost like privatizing things is /a terrible bloody idea/, if it's even /remotely/ important to the day to day lives of ones citizenry, it should not be for profit.

[@juliaclaire42]

7:03 shows Frankfurt Hauptbahnhof. West-Germany.

[@DrVictorVasconcelos]

It's an important story for Britain, because you have to realize that "levelling up" is not a thing as long as there's a middle class that's against their tax dollars going towards that end. It won't happen magically by a few projects that were already necessary anyway.