The new states of Germany () are the five re-established
states of the former
German Democratic Republic
German(s) may refer to:
* Germany (of or related to)
**Germania (historical use)
* Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language
** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law
**Ger ...
(GDR) that unified with the
Federal Republic of Germany
Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated between ...
(FRG) with its
10 states upon
German reunification
German reunification (german: link=no, Deutsche Wiedervereinigung) was the process of re-establishing Germany as a united and fully sovereign state, which took place between 2 May 1989 and 15 March 1991. The day of 3 October 1990 when the Ge ...
on 3 October 1990.
The new states, which
were dissolved by the
GDR government in 1952 and re-established in 1990, are
Brandenburg
Brandenburg (; nds, Brannenborg; dsb, Bramborska ) is a states of Germany, state in the northeast of Germany bordering the states of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Lower Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt, and Saxony, as well as the country of Poland. With an ar ...
,
Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania
Mecklenburg-Vorpommern (MV; ; nds, Mäkelborg-Vörpommern), also known by its anglicized name Mecklenburg–Western Pomerania, is a state in the north-east of Germany. Of the country's sixteen states, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern ranks 14th in po ...
,
Saxony
Saxony (german: Sachsen ; Upper Saxon: ''Saggsn''; hsb, Sakska), officially the Free State of Saxony (german: Freistaat Sachsen, links=no ; Upper Saxon: ''Freischdaad Saggsn''; hsb, Swobodny stat Sakska, links=no), is a landlocked state of ...
,
Saxony-Anhalt
Saxony-Anhalt (german: Sachsen-Anhalt ; nds, Sassen-Anholt) is a state of Germany, bordering the states of Brandenburg, Saxony, Thuringia and Lower Saxony. It covers an area of
and has a population of 2.18 million inhabitants, making it the ...
, and
Thuringia
Thuringia (; german: Thüringen ), officially the Free State of Thuringia ( ), is a state of central Germany, covering , the sixth smallest of the sixteen German states. It has a population of about 2.1 million.
Erfurt is the capital and larg ...
. The state of
Berlin
Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...
, the result of a merger between
East
East or Orient is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from west and is the direction from which the Sun rises on the Earth.
Etymology
As in other languages, the word is formed from the fa ...
and
West Berlin
West Berlin (german: Berlin (West) or , ) was a political enclave which comprised the western part of Berlin during the years of the Cold War. Although West Berlin was de jure not part of West Germany, lacked any sovereignty, and was under mi ...
, is usually not considered one of the new states although many of its residents are former East Germans. There have been 16 states in Germany since reunification.
Demographics
After the fall of the Berlin Wall, the former East German states experienced high rates of depopulation until around 2008. About 2,000 schools closed between 1989 and 2008, because of a demographic shift to a lower number of children.
In 2006, the fertility rate in the new states (1.30) approached those in the old states (1.34) and in 2016 it was higher than in the old states (1.64 vs. 1.60 in the old states). In 2019, the new states had exactly the same fertility rate as the old states (both 1.56).
More children are born out of wedlock in the new states than in the old states. In the new states, 61% of births were from unmarried women compared to 27% in the old states in 2009. Both states of Saxony-Anhalt and
Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania
Mecklenburg-Vorpommern (MV; ; nds, Mäkelborg-Vörpommern), also known by its anglicized name Mecklenburg–Western Pomerania, is a state in the north-east of Germany. Of the country's sixteen states, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern ranks 14th in po ...
had the highest rates of birth outside wedlock at 64% each, followed by Brandenburg with 62%,
Bavaria
Bavaria ( ; ), officially the Free State of Bavaria (german: Freistaat Bayern, link=no ), is a state in the south-east of Germany. With an area of , Bavaria is the largest German state by land area, comprising roughly a fifth of the total lan ...
and
Hesse
Hesse (, , ) or Hessia (, ; german: Hessen ), officially the State of Hessen (german: links=no, Land Hessen), is a States of Germany, state in Germany. Its capital city is Wiesbaden, and the largest urban area is Frankfurt. Two other major histor ...
at 26%, while the state of
Baden-Württemberg
Baden-Württemberg (; ), commonly shortened to BW or BaWü, is a German state () in Southwest Germany, east of the Rhine, which forms the southern part of Germany's western border with France. With more than 11.07 million inhabitants across a ...
had the lowest rate at 22%.
Demographic evolution
Brandenburg
Brandenburg (; nds, Brannenborg; dsb, Bramborska ) is a states of Germany, state in the northeast of Germany bordering the states of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Lower Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt, and Saxony, as well as the country of Poland. With an ar ...
had a population of 2,660,000 in 1989
and 2,531,071 in 2020.
It has the second-lowest population density in Germany. In 1995, it was the only new state to experience population growth, aided by nearby Berlin.
Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania
Mecklenburg-Vorpommern (MV; ; nds, Mäkelborg-Vörpommern), also known by its anglicized name Mecklenburg–Western Pomerania, is a state in the north-east of Germany. Of the country's sixteen states, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern ranks 14th in po ...
had a population of 1,970,000 in 1989
and 1,610,774 in 2020,
with the lowest population density in Germany. The
local Landtag held several inquiries on population trends after the opposition requested an annual report on the topic.
Saxony
Saxony (german: Sachsen ; Upper Saxon: ''Saggsn''; hsb, Sakska), officially the Free State of Saxony (german: Freistaat Sachsen, links=no ; Upper Saxon: ''Freischdaad Saggsn''; hsb, Swobodny stat Sakska, links=no), is a landlocked state of ...
had a population of 5,003,000 in 1989,
which fell to 4,056,094 in 2020.
It remains the most populated among the five new states. The proportion of the population under 20 years of age fell from 24.6% in 1988 to 19.7% in 1999.
Dresden
Dresden (, ; Upper Saxon: ''Dräsdn''; wen, label=Upper Sorbian, Drježdźany) is the capital city of the German state of Saxony and its second most populous city, after Leipzig. It is the 12th most populous city of Germany, the fourth larg ...
and
Leipzig
Leipzig ( , ; Upper Saxon: ) is the most populous city in the German state of Saxony. Leipzig's population of 605,407 inhabitants (1.1 million in the larger urban zone) as of 2021 places the city as Germany's eighth most populous, as wel ...
are among the fastest-growing cities in Germany, both raising their population by over half a million inhabitants again.
Saxony-Anhalt
Saxony-Anhalt (german: Sachsen-Anhalt ; nds, Sassen-Anholt) is a state of Germany, bordering the states of Brandenburg, Saxony, Thuringia and Lower Saxony. It covers an area of
and has a population of 2.18 million inhabitants, making it the ...
had a population of 2,960,000 in 1989,
which fell to 2,180,684 in 2020.
The state has a long history of demographic decline: its current territory had a population of 4,100,000 in 1945. The emigration already began during the GDR years.
Thuringia
Thuringia (; german: Thüringen ), officially the Free State of Thuringia ( ), is a state of central Germany, covering , the sixth smallest of the sixteen German states. It has a population of about 2.1 million.
Erfurt is the capital and larg ...
had a population of 2,680,000 in 1989,
which fell to 2,120,237 in 2020.
the new states have 12.5 million people, about 15% of Germany's population, and slightly less than that of
Bavaria
Bavaria ( ; ), officially the Free State of Bavaria (german: Freistaat Bayern, link=no ), is a state in the south-east of Germany. With an area of , Bavaria is the largest German state by land area, comprising roughly a fifth of the total lan ...
.
Migration
There are more migrants in former West Germany than in former East Germany.
About 1.7 million people (or 12% of the population) had left the new states.
A disproportionately high number of them were women under the age of 35.
About 500,000 women under the age of 30 left for western Germany between 1993 and 2008.
In some rural regions, the number of women between the ages of 20 and 30 dropped by more than 30 percent.
After 2008, the
net migration rate
Net or net may refer to:
Mathematics and physics
* Net (mathematics), a filter-like topological generalization of a sequence
* Net, a linear system of divisors of dimension 2
* Net (polyhedron), an arrangement of polygons that can be folded up ...
decreased significantly.
In 2017, for the first time since German reunification, more people emigrated from the old states to the new states than vice versa.
All of the new states have populations where 90-95% of people do not have a migrant background.
Religion
Irreligion
Irreligion or nonreligion is the absence or rejection of religion, or indifference to it. Irreligion takes many forms, ranging from the casual and unaware to full-fledged philosophies such as atheism and agnosticism, secular humanism and a ...
is predominant in former East Germany.
An exception is former
West Berlin
West Berlin (german: Berlin (West) or , ) was a political enclave which comprised the western part of Berlin during the years of the Cold War. Although West Berlin was de jure not part of West Germany, lacked any sovereignty, and was under mi ...
, which had a Christian plurality in 2016 (44.4% Christian and 43.5% unaffiliated). It also has a higher share of
Muslims
Muslims ( ar, المسلمون, , ) are people who adhere to Islam, a monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God of Abraha ...
at 8.5%, compared to former
East Berlin
East Berlin was the ''de facto'' capital city of East Germany from 1949 to 1990. Formally, it was the Allied occupation zones in Germany, Soviet sector of Berlin, established in 1945. The American, British, and French sectors were known as ...
with only 1.5% self-declared Muslims as of 2016.
Eurostat
Eurostat ('European Statistical Office'; DG ESTAT) is a Directorate-General of the European Commission located in the Kirchberg, Luxembourg, Kirchberg quarter of Luxembourg City, Luxembourg. Eurostat's main responsibilities are to provide statis ...
's
Eurobarometer
Eurobarometer is a series of public opinion surveys conducted regularly on behalf of the European Commission and other EU Institutions since 1973. These surveys address a wide variety of topical issues relating to the European Union throughout i ...
survey in 2015, found that 27.0% of the adult population themselves as agnostics or non believer, while 34.1% declared themselves as atheists. Christians comprised 37.2% of the total population; by denomination, members of the Protestant Churches were 19.2%, members of other Christian denominations were 8.8%, Catholics were 7.1%, the Christian Orthodox were 2.1%.
An explanation for the atheism in the new states, popular in other states, is the aggressive
state atheist policies of the former GDR government. However, the enforcement of atheism existed only for the first few years. After that, the state allowed churches to have a relatively high level of autonomy.
Another explanation could be the secularizing trend (the "
Kulturkampf
(, 'culture struggle') was the conflict that took place from 1872 to 1878 between the Catholic Church led by Pope Pius IX and the government of Prussia led by Otto von Bismarck. The main issues were clerical control of education and ecclesiastic ...
") dating back to the second half of the 19th century in
Prussia
Prussia, , Old Prussian: ''Prūsa'' or ''Prūsija'' was a German state on the southeast coast of the Baltic Sea. It formed the German Empire under Prussian rule when it united the German states in 1871. It was ''de facto'' dissolved by an em ...
and through the
Weimar Republic
The Weimar Republic (german: link=no, Weimarer Republik ), officially named the German Reich, was the government of Germany from 1918 to 1933, during which it was a constitutional federal republic for the first time in history; hence it is al ...
which was strongest in the states of
Thuringia
Thuringia (; german: Thüringen ), officially the Free State of Thuringia ( ), is a state of central Germany, covering , the sixth smallest of the sixteen German states. It has a population of about 2.1 million.
Erfurt is the capital and larg ...
and
Saxony
Saxony (german: Sachsen ; Upper Saxon: ''Saggsn''; hsb, Sakska), officially the Free State of Saxony (german: Freistaat Sachsen, links=no ; Upper Saxon: ''Freischdaad Saggsn''; hsb, Swobodny stat Sakska, links=no), is a landlocked state of ...
as well as the
late arrival of Christianity to the region as opposed to southern Europe where it was the state religion from late antiquity.
Major cities
Culture
![Ampelmaenner](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/04/Ampelmaenner.jpg)
Persisting differences in culture and mentality among older
East Germans
East Germany, officially the German Democratic Republic (GDR; german: Deutsche Demokratische Republik, , DDR, ), was a country that existed from its creation on 7 October 1949 until its dissolution on 3 October 1990. In these years the state ...
and
West Germans are often referred to as the "wall in the head" ("Mauer im Kopf").
Ossis (Easties) are stereotyped as racist, poor and largely influenced by
Russian culture
Russian culture (russian: Культура России, Kul'tura Rossii) has been formed by the nation's history, its geographical location and its vast expanse, religious and social traditions, and Western culture, Western influence. Russian ...
, while Wessis (Westies) are usually considered snobbish, dishonest, wealthy, and selfish. The terms can be considered to be disparaging.
In 2009, a poll found that 22% of former East Germans (40% under 25) considered themselves "real citizens of the Federal Republic";
62% felt they were no longer citizens of East Germany, but not fully integrated into the unified Germany; and around 11% would have liked to have re-established East Germany.
An earlier poll 2004 found that 25% of West Germans and 12% of East Germans wished reunification had not happened.
Some East German brands have been revived to appeal to former East Germans who are nostalgic for the goods they grew up with.
Brands revived in this manner include
Rotkäppchen
''Rotkäppchen'' is an East German film based on the fairy tale Little Red Riding Hood
"Little Red Riding Hood" is a European fairy tale about a young girl and a sly wolf. Its origins can be traced back to several pre-17th century Europea ...
, which holds about 40% of the German sparkling wine market, and
Zeha, the sports shoe maker that supplied most of East Germany's sports teams as well as the
Soviet Union national football team
The Soviet Union national football team ( rus, сбо́рная СССР по футбо́лу, r=sbórnaya SSSR po futbólu) was the national Association football, football team of the former Soviet Union.
After the Dissolution of the Soviet U ...
.
Economy
![20-10-04-Tesla-Fangschleuse-RalfR](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e0/20-10-04-Tesla-Fangschleuse-RalfR.jpg)
The
economic reconstruction
Economic reconstruction is a process for creating a proactive vision of economic change. The most basic idea is that problems in the economy, such as deindustrialization, environmental decay, outsourcing, industrial incompetence, poverty and ad ...
of eastern Germany (german: Aufbau Ost) proved to be longer-term than originally foreseen.
As of 2005, the
standard of living
Standard of living is the level of income, comforts and services available, generally applied to a society or location, rather than to an individual. Standard of living is relevant because it is considered to contribute to an individual's quality ...
and average annual income remained significantly lower in the new states.
The federal government spent
€
The euro sign () is the currency sign used for the euro, the official currency of the eurozone and unilaterally adopted by Kosovo and Montenegro. The design was presented to the public by the European Commission on 12 December 1996. It consists o ...
2
trillion
''Trillion'' is a number with two distinct definitions:
* 1,000,000,000,000, i.e. one million million, or (ten to the twelfth power), as defined on the short scale. This is now the meaning in both American and British English.
* 1,000,000,000,0 ...
to reunify
and privatise 8,500 state-owned east German enterprises.
Almost all East German industries were considered outdated while reunifying.
Since 1990, amounts between €100 billion and €140 billion have been transferred to the new states annually.
More than €60 billion were spent supporting businesses and building infrastructure in the years 2006–2008.
A €156 billion
economic plan
Economic interventionism, sometimes also called state interventionism, is an economic policy position favouring government intervention in the market process with the intention of correcting market failures and promoting the general welfare of ...
, Solidarity Pact II, was enforced in 2005 and provided the financial basis for the advancement and special promotion of the economy of the new states until 2019.
The "solidarity tax", a 5.5% surcharge on the income tax, was implemented by the
Kohl government to match the infrastructure of the new states to the levels of the western ones
and to apportion the cost of unification and the expenses of both the
Gulf War
The Gulf War was a 1990–1991 armed campaign waged by a 35-country military coalition in response to the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait. Spearheaded by the United States, the coalition's efforts against Iraq were carried out in two key phases: ...
and European integration. The tax, which raises €11 billion annually, was planned to remain in force until 2019.
Since reunification, the
unemployment
Unemployment, according to the OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development), is people above a specified age (usually 15) not being in paid employment or self-employment but currently available for Work (human activity), w ...
rate in the East has doubled that of the West. The unemployment rate reached 12.7%
in April 2010, after reaching a maximum of 18.7% in 2005. As of 2020, the
unemployment rates
This is a list of countries by unemployment rate. Methods of calculation and presentation of unemployment rate vary from country to country.
Some countries count insured unemployed only, some count those in receipt of welfare benefit only, some cou ...
in the new states were lower than in some old states.
In the decade 1999–2009, economic activity per person rose from 67% to 71% of western Germany.
Wolfgang Tiefensee
Wolfgang Tiefensee (born 4 January 1955) is a German politician of the Social Democratic Party (SPD). He was the Federal Minister for Transport, Building and Urban Development in the grand coalition cabinet led by Angela Merkel between 2005 and ...
, the minister then responsible for the development of the new states, said in 2009: "The gap is closing."
The new states are also the part of the country that was least affected by the
2007-2008 financial crisis.
All the new states qualify as ''
Objective 1
The regional policy of the European Union (EU), also referred as Cohesion Policy, is a policy with the stated aim of improving the economic well-being of regions in the European Union and also to avoid regional disparities. More than one third ...
'' development regions within the
European Union
The European Union (EU) is a supranational political and economic union of member states that are located primarily in Europe. The union has a total area of and an estimated total population of about 447million. The EU has often been des ...
and were eligible to receive
investment subsidies of up to 30% until 2013.
Infrastructure
The "German Unity Transport Projects" (
Verkehrsprojekte Deutsche Einheit, VDE) is a programme launched in 1991 that is intended to upgrade the infrastructure of eastern Germany and modernize transport links between the old and new states.
It consists of nine railway projects, seven motorway projects, and one
waterway
A waterway is any navigable body of water. Broad distinctions are useful to avoid ambiguity, and disambiguation will be of varying importance depending on the nuance of the equivalent word in other languages. A first distinction is necessary b ...
project with a total budget of €38.5 billion. As of 2009, all 17 projects were under construction or have been completed.
The construction of new railway lines and high-speed upgrades of existing lines reduced journey times between Berlin and
Hanover
Hanover (; german: Hannover ; nds, Hannober) is the capital and largest city of the German state of Lower Saxony. Its 535,932 (2021) inhabitants make it the 13th-largest city in Germany as well as the fourth-largest city in Northern Germany ...
from over four hours to 96 minutes.
Many railway lines (branches and main lines) have been closed by the unified
Deutsche Bahn
The (; abbreviated as DB or DB AG) is the national railway company of Germany. Headquartered in the Bahntower in Berlin, it is a joint-stock company ( AG). The Federal Republic of Germany is its single shareholder.
describes itself as the se ...
(German Railways) because of increased car usage and depopulation. The VDE states that some main lines are still not finished or upgraded, with the Leipzig-Nuremberg line (via Erfurt and part of the Munich-Berlin route) scheduled to come on-line in December 2017, almost three decades after reunification.
''Deutsche Einheit Fernstraßenplanungs- und -bau GmbH'', (English: German Unity Road Construction Company; DEGES) is the state-owned project management institution responsible for the construction of approximately 1,360 km of federal roads within the VDE with a total budget of €10.2 billion. It is also involved in other transport projects, including 435 km of roads costing about €1,760 million as well as a city tunnel in
Leipzig
Leipzig ( , ; Upper Saxon: ) is the most populous city in the German state of Saxony. Leipzig's population of 605,407 inhabitants (1.1 million in the larger urban zone) as of 2021 places the city as Germany's eighth most populous, as wel ...
costing €685 million.
The Federal Transport Infrastructure Plan 2003 includes plans to extend the
A14 motorway
This is a list of roads designated A14.
* A014 road (Argentina), a beltway ring-road around San Juan, San Juan Province
* A14 motorway (Austria), a road connecting Hörbranz and the German Autobahn 96 to Bürs
* A14 motorway (Belgium), a road ...
from
Magdeburg
Magdeburg (; nds, label=Low Saxon, Meideborg ) is the capital and second-largest city of the German state Saxony-Anhalt. The city is situated at the Elbe river.
Otto I, the first Holy Roman Emperor and founder of the Archdiocese of Magdebur ...
to
Schwerin
Schwerin (; Mecklenburgisch dialect, Mecklenburgian Low German: ''Swerin''; Latin: ''Suerina'', ''Suerinum'') is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Germany, second-largest city of the northeastern States of Germany, German ...
and to build the
A72 from
Chemnitz
Chemnitz (; from 1953 to 1990: Karl-Marx-Stadt , ) is the third-largest city in the German state of Saxony after Leipzig and Dresden. It is the 28th largest city of Germany as well as the fourth largest city in the area of former East Germany a ...
to
Leipzig
Leipzig ( , ; Upper Saxon: ) is the most populous city in the German state of Saxony. Leipzig's population of 605,407 inhabitants (1.1 million in the larger urban zone) as of 2021 places the city as Germany's eighth most populous, as wel ...
.
Private ownership rates of cars have increased since 1990: in 1988, 55% of East German households had at least one car; in 1993 it rose to 67% and 71% in 1998, compared to the West German rates of 61% in 1988, 74% in 1993, and 76% in 1998.
Politics
Unlike the West, there was a three-party system (
CDU,
SPD
The Social Democratic Party of Germany (german: Sozialdemokratische Partei Deutschlands, ; SPD, ) is a centre-left social democratic political party in Germany. It is one of the major parties of contemporary Germany.
Saskia Esken has been the ...
,
PDS/The Left) until the
''Alternative für Deutschland'' (AfD) formed in 2013,
[Steffen Schoon: ''Wählerverhalten und Strukturmuster des Parteienwettbewerbs'', in: Steffen Schoon, Nikolaus Werz (Hrsg.): ''Die Landtagswahl in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern 2006'', Rostock 2006, S. 9.] creating a four-party system. Since 2009 at least four factions have been represented in each of the East German regional parliaments, six in Saxony. In 1998/1999, for example, only one of the regional parliaments included more than three factions.
Far-left
The democratic socialist party,
The Left (''Die Linke'', successor to the ''Party of Democratic Socialism'', the
GDR state party's successor) has been successful throughout eastern Germany, perhaps as a result of the continued disparity of living conditions and salaries compared with western Germany, and high unemployment. Ever since it associated with the
WASG, The Left frequently loses in state elections and has been losing members since 2010.
The
Party of Democratic Socialism (PDS), and The Left from 2005, have gained the following vote shares in recent elections:
After losing votes to the AfD, the Left plans to establish a regional group in eastern Germany.
Far-right
![Btw17afd](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/38/Btw17afd.svg)
After 1990, far-right and
German nationalist
German nationalism () is an ideological notion that promotes the unity of Germans and German-speakers into one unified nation state. German nationalism also emphasizes and takes pride in the patriotism and national identity of Germans as one nat ...
groups gained followers. Some sources claim mostly among people frustrated by the high unemployment and the poor economic situation.
''
Der Spiegel
''Der Spiegel'' (, lit. ''"The Mirror"'') is a German weekly news magazine published in Hamburg. With a weekly circulation of 695,100 copies, it was the largest such publication in Europe in 2011. It was founded in 1947 by John Seymour Chaloner ...
'' also points out that these people are primarily single men and that there may also be socio-demographic reasons.
Since around 1998 the support for right-wing parties shifted from the south of Germany to the east.
The far-right party
German People's Union
The German People's Union (german: Deutsche Volksunion, DVU, also ''Liste D'') was a political party in Germany. It was founded by publisher Gerhard Frey as an informal association in 1971 and established as a party in 1987. Financially, it was l ...
(DVU) formed in
1998
1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''.
Events January
* January 6 – The '' Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for frozen water, in soil in permanently ...
in Saxony-Anhalt and Brandenburg since
1999
File:1999 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The funeral procession of King Hussein of Jordan in Amman; the 1999 İzmit earthquake kills over 17,000 people in Turkey; the Columbine High School massacre, one of the first major school shootin ...
. In 2009, the party lost its representation in the
Landtag of Brandenburg
The Landtag of Brandenburg is the unicameral legislature of the state of Brandenburg in Germany.
Its 88 members of parliament are usually elected every 5 years.
It is responsible for deciding on state laws, controlling the state government an ...
.
The far-right
National Democratic Party of Germany
The National Democratic Party of Germany (german: Nationaldemokratische Partei Deutschlands or NPD) is a far-right Neo-Nazi and ultranationalist political party in Germany.
The party was founded in 1964 as successor to the German Reich Party ...
(NPD) was represented in the
Saxon State Parliament from
2004
2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and its Abolition (by UNESCO).
Events January
* January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 6 ...
to
2014
File:2014 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Stocking up supplies and personal protective equipment (PPE) for the Western African Ebola virus epidemic; Citizens examining the ruins after the Chibok schoolgirls kidnapping; Bundles of wat ...
. In Mecklenburg-Vorpommern the NPD losts its representation in the parliament following the
2016 state elections. In 2009,
Junge Landsmannschaft Ostdeutschland Junge Landsmannschaft Ostdeutschland (Young Homeland Association of East Germany – JLO) is a German youth organization, that the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution has categorized as “right-wing extremist”. Most of its a ...
, supported by the NPD, organized a march on the anniversary of the
Bombing of Dresden in World War II
The bombing of Dresden was a joint British and American aerial bombing attack on the city of Dresden, the capital of the German state of Saxony, during World War II. In four raids between 13 and 15 February 1945, 772 heavy bombers of the Roya ...
. There were 6,000 Nationalists which were met by tens of thousands of ″anti-Nazis″ and several thousand policemen.
The Free Voters of Germany emerged in 2009 from the Land Brandenburg regional branch of
Free Voters
Free Voters (german: Freie Wähler, FW or FWG) in Germany may belong to an association of people which participates in an election without having the status of a registered political party. Usually it involves a locally organized group of voters ...
, after being excluded because of "signs of right infiltration" from the Federal Association of Free Voters Germany.
[''Freie Wähler schließen Zwei Landesverbände Wegen Rechtskurs aus,''](_blank)
pr-inside.com (Associated Press
The Associated Press (AP) is an American non-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association. It produces news reports that are distributed to its members, U.S. newspa ...
), 4 April 2009.
Pegida has its focus in eastern Germany. A survey by TNS Emnid reports that in mid-December 2014, 53% of East Germans in each case sympathised with the PEGIDA demonstrators. (48% in the West)
The
Alternative for Germany
Alternative for Germany (german: link=no, Alternative für Deutschland, AfD; ) is a right-wing populist
*
*
*
*
*
*
* political party in Germany. AfD is known for its opposition to the European Union, as well as immigration to Germany. I ...
(''Alternative für Deutschland''; AfD) had the most votes in the new states of Germany in the
2013 German federal election
Federal elections were held on 22 September to elect the members of the 18th Bundestag of Germany. At stake were all 598 seats to the Bundestag, plus 33 overhang seats determined thereafter. The Christian Democratic Union of Germany/ Christian ...
s, in 2017. and in 2021 elections. The party is seen as harbouring anti-immigration views.
In 2016, AfD reached at least 17% in
Saxony-Anhalt
Saxony-Anhalt (german: Sachsen-Anhalt ; nds, Sassen-Anholt) is a state of Germany, bordering the states of Brandenburg, Saxony, Thuringia and Lower Saxony. It covers an area of
and has a population of 2.18 million inhabitants, making it the ...
,
Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania
Mecklenburg-Vorpommern (MV; ; nds, Mäkelborg-Vörpommern), also known by its anglicized name Mecklenburg–Western Pomerania, is a state in the north-east of Germany. Of the country's sixteen states, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern ranks 14th in po ...
(where the NPD lost all seats)
and
Berlin
Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...
.
In 2015,
Rhineland-Palatinate
Rhineland-Palatinate ( , ; german: link=no, Rheinland-Pfalz ; lb, Rheinland-Pfalz ; pfl, Rhoilond-Palz) is a western state of Germany. It covers and has about 4.05 million residents. It is the ninth largest and sixth most populous of the ...
interior minister Roger Lewentz said the former communist states were "more susceptible" to "xenophobic radicalization" because former East Germany had not had the same exposure to foreign people and cultures over the decades that the people in the West of the country have had.
In the
2017 federal election, AfD received approximately 22% of the votes in the East and approximately 11% in the West.
In the
2021 federal election, the AFD emerged as the largest in the states of
Saxony
Saxony (german: Sachsen ; Upper Saxon: ''Saggsn''; hsb, Sakska), officially the Free State of Saxony (german: Freistaat Sachsen, links=no ; Upper Saxon: ''Freischdaad Saggsn''; hsb, Swobodny stat Sakska, links=no), is a landlocked state of ...
and
Thuringia
Thuringia (; german: Thüringen ), officially the Free State of Thuringia ( ), is a state of central Germany, covering , the sixth smallest of the sixteen German states. It has a population of about 2.1 million.
Erfurt is the capital and larg ...
, and saw a strong performance in
eastern Germany
The new states of Germany () are the five re-established states of the former German Democratic Republic (GDR) that unified with the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG) with its 10 states upon German reunification on 3 October 1990.
The new s ...
.
*With the votes of the FDP gains of 2001/02.
Protest vote
Fringe parties, particularly the AfD and The Left,
[Iris Huth: ''Politische Verdrossenheit. Erscheinungsformen und Ursachen als Herausforderungen für das Politische System und die Politische Kultur der Bundesrepublik Deutschland im 21. Jahrhundert'', Dissertation Universität Münster 2003, LIT Verlag, Münster 2004, (Politik und Partizipation 3), S. 170.] receive a large number of protest votes in eastern Germany, which causes voter shifting from left to right and vice versa.
The
Pirate Party Germany
The Pirate Party Germany (german: Piratenpartei Deutschland), commonly known as Pirates (), is a political party in Germany founded in September 2006 at c-base. It states general agreement with the Swedish Piratpartiet as a party of the informat ...
was chosen slightly more frequently in the East (10.1 percent) than in the West (8.1 percent) of Berlin. Among those under 30 years of age in East Berlin, the Pirates were the second most popular party with 20 percent of the votes.
[Wahlanalysen.](_blank)
Forschungsgruppe Wahlen; retrieved 1 October 2011. For example, none of the parties elected to the Berlin House of Representatives in 2011 lost a high proportion of their voters to the AfD as the Pirates at the next election in 2016 (16%).
[Infratest dimap]
Analysen Zu den Wählerwanderungen in Berlin 2016
retrieved 29 September 2016. Other findings also suggest that some of their voters, like the AfD, regard the Pirate Party primarily as a protest party.
[Felix Neumann: ''Plattformneutralität. Zur Programmatik der Piratenpartei.'' In: ]Oskar Niedermayer
Oskar Ritter von Niedermayer (8 November 1885 – 25 September 1948) was a German General, professor and a German super-spy. Sometimes referred to as the German Lawrence (just like Wilhelm Wassmuss), Niedermayer is remembered for having led the 19 ...
(Hrsg.): ''Die Piratenpartei''. Springer, Wiesbaden 2013, S. 175.
The election slogans of the DVU in the regional elections in Saxony-Anhalt in 1998 were directed primarily against the politicians already represented in parliament: "Not the people - the political bigwigs, will dole!" And "German, let's not make the sow you. DVU - The protest in the election against dirty things from above". In particular, politically dissatisfied people were advertised towards with the slogan "vote protest - vote German."
At the time, the DVU had 12.9% of the votes.
Independence
In 1991, the PDS demanded the right for Thuringia to leave the united Germany in its draft of the constitution, which ultimately did not pass.
Tatjana Festerling
Tatjana Festerling (née Schimanski, 6 March 1964) is a German far-right activist who was a member of the organisation team of the political movement Pegida. She was expelled from the Pegida leadership for advocating that asylum-seekers should ...
was a leader in the Dresden
Pegida demonstrations from February 2015 to mid-April 2016 after Kathrin Oertel withdrew. She demanded the "Säxit"the secession of Saxony from the Federal Republic of Germanyon October 12, 2015, after she had already demanded the rebuilding of the former
Iron Curtain
The Iron Curtain was the political boundary dividing Europe into two separate areas from the end of World War II in 1945 until the end of the Cold War in 1991. The term symbolizes the efforts by the Soviet Union (USSR) to block itself and its s ...
over Germany on March 9, 2015.
Opinion polls
Percentage of respondents supporting independence from the new states of Germany:
See also
*
East German jokes
East German jokes, jibes popular in the former German Democratic Republic (GDR, also known as East Germany), reflected the concerns of East German citizens and residents between 1949 and 1990. Jokes frequently targeted political figures, such as S ...
*
Old states of Germany
The old states of Germany (german: die alten Länder) is a jargon referring to the ten of the sixteen states of the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG) that were part of West Germany and that unified with the eastern German Democratic Republic' ...
*
Ossi and Wessi
*
Ostalgie
In German culture, ''Ostalgie'' () is nostalgia for aspects of life in Communist East Germany. It is a portmanteau of the German words '' Ost'' (east) and ''Nostalgie'' (nostalgia). Its anglicised equivalent, ostalgia (rhyming with "nostalgia" ...
References
External links
The Federal Government's Annual Report on the State of German Unity 2009
{{DEFAULTSORT:New States Of Germany
Society of Germany
Political history of Germany
German reunification
1990 in Germany
Regions of Germany