German Unification in Retrospect: Legacies and Lessons

Thirty-five years after the fall of the Berlin wall, it is now largely accepted that German unification, despite its achievements, was not the unbridled success story it is often assumed to have been. The unfulfilled promises of unification, the unmatched processes of deindustrialisation, as well as uneven economic development and the continued wealth disparities between east and west, have all contributed to the rise of anti-establishment parties and a widening disdain for ‘politics as normal’ in the ‘neue Bundesländer’. But how much of this is down to unification specifically, and how much to the general shift away from the centre taking place across the western world? How might unification have been done differently, and what are the prospects for a more harmonious coexistence moving forward? To discuss these questions and more, the DAAD-University of Cambridge Research Hub for German Studies has convened a panel of scholars, including:

Professor Dirk Oschmann

Dirk Oschmann is a German academic, author and Professor of modern German Literature at the University of Leipzig. Born and raised in the GDR, Oschmann is widely known for his 2023 book, Der Osten: eine westdeutsche Erfindung (The East: A West German Invention), which sparked heated debate in Germany, not least because of its contention that West Germany still continues to be viewed as the ‘real’ Germany – and the East a mere deviation from it – and that a true, equal unification has yet to occur.

Professor Raj Kollmorgen

Raj Kollmorgen is a German sociologist and professor at Görlitz University, where he holds a professorship in the Management of Social Change. Born in Leipzig in 1963, he has dedicated his career to the study of social change, particularly post-socialist transformations in Central and Eastern Europe, including East Germany and German reunification. He also researches social inequality, regional development in rural areas, and political populism. He is a sought-after expert in media and has advised government bodies on topics related to German unity and societal change.

Helene Bubrowski

Formerly of the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung (FAZ), Helene Bubrowski is now deputy editor at Table Media. One of Germany’s most well-connected and most-cited political journalists, she had commented extensively on right-wing movements across Germany, not least the so-called ‘Queerdenker’ and the AfD.

Simon Strauß

Simon Strauß is a German writer and journalist born and based in Berlin. A cultural editor for the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung (FAZ), he has also written and produced a successful podcast series on the formerly East German city of Prenzlau (‘Schaut auf diese Stadt’), in which he spoke with politicians, priests and normal citizens to discuss unification, societal divisions and the city’s place in a unified Germany. Such discussions are the basis of his forthcoming book, In der Nähe.

These authors’ work is widely discussed in Germany, and the panel discussion will offer insight into internal German debates to a wider, non-German audience. The event will also serve to open a three-day conference of the same name organised by the DAAD-University of Cambridge Research Hub for German Studies and the Chung-Ang University Centre for German and European Studies (ZeDES). Here, more detailed questions concerning German unification will be explored, as well as what countries like Korea and Ireland – for whom unification is a distant but distinct possibility – can learn from it.

Dr Darren O'Byrne (Cambridge DAAD-Hub for German Studies)

The event will take place at 17:30 on 23 October in the Lecture Theatre at Trinity Hall (Trininty Lane, Cambridge, CB2 1TJ) and will be followed by a drinks reception.

Please be aware that there will be a photographer present at the event. If you would not like to be recorded/photographed, please make yourself known to us at the event.