Anybody who has an interest in German culture and history remembers the pictures on TV about the wall coming down. I myself was one of the lucky ones who were able to go to Berlin in the winter of 1989 and collect a piece of the Berliner Mauer (the Berlin Wall). We saw the East German Trabants and Wartburgs drive across the border among the enthusiastic cheering of the newly united German people. After a significant boost for the West German economy under chancellor Helmut Kohl whose promise of the blooming territories (blühende Landschaften) is still used today in various political discussions.
After the first years of euphoria and happiness a rising unemployment rate throughout the newly united Germany with extremely high numbers in the five new states in the East reality changed into skepticism and nostalgia among the formerly divided countries.
The peaceful revolution started in cities like Leipzig and Dresden with huge crowds chanting “Wir sind das Volk” (We are the people). Without the will power of the East German population and the economical state the “DDR” (GDR) was in, the unification would still be a fiction today.
I would like to start a discussion with our readers concerning their thoughts about the unification and especially what you think of the current situation Germany is in after the opening of the borders to the former “Warschauer Pakt” (Warsaw Pact). What do you consider advantages and disadvantages of the new situation almost ten years later? Were you affected by the political changes personally and what is your opinion about the development?
Vocabulary:
die Mauer – The wall
müssen – to must, to have to
weg – away
der Weg – the way
blühen – to bloom
die Landschaft – the countryside, the territory
wir sind – we are
das Volk – the people
DDR (deutsche demokratische Republik) – GDR (German democratic republic)
Warschau – Warsaw
8 Comments
I think it’s great the wall is gone – who’d have thought it would be possible? As hard as the reunification has been, it was the right thing to do. Having all the Warschauer Pakt states open now is a sign of the times – globalism is in full swing. It’ll open up opportunities, but also create more complex security risks.
Who knows what this will lead to? Maybe someday there won’t be any individual countries any more? Maybe some day we’ll all be identified not by what area we live in, but by our habits and conventions, since everything is being tracked and it’s becoming easier to travel and quickly move from place to place.
Or maybe we’ll all turn back to communal living, with small self sufficient villages being the norm – it’ll be interesting to see where it’s all heading.
But this seem to be going off-topic now – feel free to delete as needed
Hallo Marita,
I don’t see any reason to delete anything of your post. I actually think your view into the future is very realistic.
Just as well as nobody could have predicted 300 years ago that Prussians and Bavarians would be united in the same country one day. I think we are headed towards the same within the European union, even though I think the variety of languages and still different cultures will make that unification process a lot longer and different.
Thanks for checking in!
Holger
True, the Prussians and Bavarians uniting – unbelievable
And yes, Europe with all its languages, that will definitely be a challenge. Maybe there will be an official language someday, or a whole new language will develop: ‘Euresish’ – haha
(Note: I’ve subscribed to comments on this post, but it doesn’t seem to be working, since I didn’t get yours in my e-mail.)
Glad to get some info. Unification is good. Transition is difficult. Global unification is not near, but possible. Political “leaders” keep us apart. Universal language would be nice. The German language is a challenge for me. Love to communicate. Looking forward to learning more.
More likely a united Europe would be something similar to countries with more than one official country. I’m thinking of the situation in Canada (since I’m Canadian), where the French and English culture and language are always somewhat in tension but it seems to be working well. Of course, that’s only two languages…
Very good points! Canada is a good example of how it can work. Unfortunately, there are also others where it did not.
I also think that in today’s virtual world more and more interaction takes place through PCs..kind of like what we are doing here. It seems to work though and more people are coming together.
Marita,
I am not sure why you don’t get notified about the comments. I will check into that. In the meantime just keep checking in once in a while. I always like a good conversation.
Thanks Holger – and will do