The Challenges of a United Germany-BY AWAKE! WRITER IN GERMANY

Freedom at Last!

What the GDR populace wanted most from the Wende was freedom.  Small wonder, since the totalitarian State had kept its citizens in a straightjacket.  In pre-Wende days,  getting a  visa to cross the inner-German border was difficult or impossible.  Suddenly that changed. One woman exclaimed:  "Just imagine, we can go to America!" For many, to be reunited with relatives and friends on the other side of the border continues to give them reason to be thankful.

Freedom allows not only East Germans to go west bu also Westerners  to go east.  Thus, tourist attractions in the new federal states are now back on the map, as it were.  For instance, tourists  can visit Wittenberg, where Martin Luter started the Reformation ,which gave birth to Protestant religion. Then there are Meissen, a city renowned for  its handmade porcelain, and Weimar, at one time home to two of Germany's most famous writers, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe and Friedrich von Schiller. In 1990, Weimar was made Cultural City of Europe, the first city in the former Communist bloc to receive such an honor. 

What about freedom of speech?  People in the new federal states can talk openly without fear of being overheard by the Stasi, or state security. And the man in the street rejoices at being able to choose television programs and reading material freely. Matthias recalls:  "When I was at school, any publications from the West that we got hold of were confiscated."

Freedom of worship?  In the GDR, religion was discouraged, and 2 citizens out of 3 had no religious affiliation. All of reunited German has now enjoyed freedom of worship for over ten years, the longest period since Hitler began to clamp down on religion in 1933.  But freedom of religion does not mean that religion is popular.  the mainstream churches have been lamenting a loss of influence for quite some time, and the Wende, accelerated this trend.  Jehovah's Witnesses, on the other hand, who were banned and persecuted by the totalitarian regime, have expanded their activities.   During the past ten year,, 123 Kingdom Halls and 2 Assembly Halls have been built by the Witnesses in the new federal states. 

Construction  of all types has taken on huge proportions in the new states. Berlin has been reinstated as national capital and is being given a gigantic face-lift. All across the new federal states, the infrastructure is being upgraded, involving huge expenditures on roads and railways. A great deal has been done to clean up the environment and to bring health care and social welfare  up to Western Standards.   Most residents of the new federal states would agree that they now have a higher standard of living.  

Next time: The Challenges of a United Germany - BY AWAKE! WRITER IN GERMANY/"Times Were Good"

From the Awake! magazine