35 years after the association: Unity: Three of four East Germans see the separating

35 years after German unity, a Forsa survey shows a growing alienation between East and West. Only 35 percent of the 1,000 respondents said that East and West Germany have now largely grown together into a people. For 61 percent, the separation predominates – in East Germany even 75 percent say.

The foundation commissioned the foundation to process the SED dictatorship before the anniversary of the Association of October 3, 1990. Forsa has asked the same question since 2003.

The development shows that from 2004 to 2019 the number of those who said that East and West had grown together, from 28 to 51 percent. Since then, the feeling of community has been going down again. In 2020 it was 47 percent, in 2023 only 37 percent and now two points less. In the east, the proportion is only 23 percent in 2025 and 37 percent in the west.

In generation 60 Plus, a particularly large number of people express doubts: 25 percent nationwide say in this age group, the growing together is successful, 70 percent mostly see the separation.

The view of boys is significantly different: 47 percent in the age group 14 to 29, East and West have largely grown into a people, 52 percent do not see this.

Refurbishment is important to many

In the survey, there is an agreement that it is important or very important to continue to deal with the time of the GDR and the SED dictatorship. This said 85 percent, 14 percent find this less important or unimportant.

“The results show how fragile the feeling of unity is – and at the same time that the common culture of remembrance forms the strongest band of our society,” said Anna Kaminsky, director of the Federal Foundation. “If the feeling of growing subsides, the common historical argument gains importance.”

According to Forsa, 1,004 people aged 14 and over were interviewed, according to Forsa. The fault tolerance is plus or minus three percentage points.

It was asked about the approval of the statement: “People in East and West Germany have now largely grown together into a people.” In addition, the statement “that in Germany you deal with the time of the GDR and the SED dictatorship” should be classified as “very important”, “important”, “less important” or “unimportant”.