Reunification is it time for the next generation. That. Thanks very much indeed for joining us here on through the points are my guests here in the studio my 2 boys who is an art student focusing on migration and she argues that we in west germany are rediscovering the eastern german identity and we must learn from it. Also with us is melanie each time journalist and psychologist who says reunification shape tell us no we need a shaking society and a very warm welcome to see journalist and radio presenter vladimir. Believes that todays united germany is more diverse than ever and we should embrace that. Thank you. Being here folks thank you for those 3 interesting statements id like to begin with you my 2 i called german reunification in my introduction and the fall of the berlin wall a miracle because thats how it felt to me i was there at the time and i was amazed by what i saw what does it mean for you today. In the 1st place it meant something from the parents after their your version of station that meant for them the contracts terminated my parents back then were contract workers just explain sort of about the vietnamese background and the contract workers in germany. Starting in 1980. When my father 1st came to east germany. Vietnam and east germany back then had a contract. During those socialist union to invite contract workers in or to work for them in companies and stuff like that will get us aboard because many people i think many of our views would not know that and and your parents in that community in eastern germany did they celebrate german reunification was it was it a joyous occasion for them for them it was a shock because their contracts would have terminated years later and the ecosystem kind of fell apart they had to start started to be on their own to find ways in order to survive not only the contracts terminated but also the Living Conditions and kind of. Changed in a way ok thats a fascinating introduction to your story will continue on thats just a little bit shortly melanie 32 use of reunification are you some of what is there to celebrate form from your perspective and well i think were just i think they really if you question is one of their biggest if she wins of germany of course and i think its not another day you celebrate with your family. And maybe its also because. You know. In the years when when the unification happened or of the year before and it was the people who were fighting for democracy the players. From their peaceful revolution are not really as a subject of this day here in the stunt no one for very well we had so we have the chance to create a new constitution and remit this chance unfortunately no it was more symbolic act in a way and take over and described as a hostile takeover the west taking over the east. Yeah well we had that there were people creating a new constitution they had great ideas like the white to work the white to. An apartment and where mental protection sinks we discussed today. Politicians decided to not do that but decide to decide which for the take over and i think thats the reason why people from the east and west didnt need to i level and this was followed by some problems rio talking about today or the Younger Generations talk about today theres a lot of me you were a young teenager of the time tell us about what your perspective was there in the troops today on the 9th of november 89 was actually more important to me than the 3rd of october 990. The fall of the wall of history have been 15 years of age and my mother came into my room and said you know this is theres really something historical happening and i want to actually the next day we have been living in. It lived at the time and i wanted to go to west but then of course the next day what i did with most of my friends so school was empty its been a friday i remember that and this was just a great time and i will you too to see all these places to meet people and to see all sort of differences from the very beginning when i went to west berlin i suddenly noticed that this is another part of germany i wasnt really prepared for it so. And the 1st of october i mean you have to remember its just less than a year later. Then a year this the state of g. D. R. Disease germany actually you know just disappeared from the earth and thats a very very short period. Was talking a baritone perhaps people in the east got a bit got a rule deal you might say from from the west and im just wondering i mean youre not going to let me know whats going to stick because its been a democratic decision has been like elections on the 18th of march in 1901st free election in east germany which was there and people decided people voted and they voted for the conservative movement which was strongly of course also supported by a head would call in this government and the c. D. U. From the west but still the east german people decided themselves know what happened to their country and it wasnt a takeover they were headed north also big chris i call this sad if you will have promised a lot yeah from of the law to now its only after one years later and people lost trust in the government so you absolutely why did was there decision of the people and you wanted that in was based on promises which were not told is true but thats nothing new in politics id say and. Im just im just wondering why too when we when we talk about those sort of the 3 decades of german reunification do you do and you listen to that discussion its continuing opens to because with celebrations again this year as usual do you sort of look at that discussion and think we should be moving on here we should be moving away from that discussion and moving towards. Germanys future is a more diverse and the more precisely that as a more Diverse Society i mean in the 1st place we have to acknowledge that germany itself is already there verse we have lived experiences that go beyond being eastern or western german and for example my story but also like so many other stories that have been unheard because the story usually have been told from the west german perspective and even german people try to tell more of their stories and i think they are valid to be heard not to matter im just not just going to come back to your sort of optimistically take on the process because you know we all know the do this to this term this horrid term was used the aussies to sort of almost look down denigrating young people from the east with much like you know would you ever turn to you never ever never you were never called and also you never sort of people were amazed when they realized im from the east actually youre really from he said that you would have believed it so they had their cliches in mind obviously you know even my wife when we had our 1st 2 or 3 dates she thought im from the west shes from the east and it took at least a 3 dates. For her to learn that im actually also from the east and i. Think you adopted very well to the system probably yeah. Well of the heart of berlin of the heart of german reunification is Potsdamer Platz once it was one of the busiest traffic hubs in the world and it was like to wipe from the map but its back so whats a people there say about the coming together of east and west 30 years of them. After reunification plots in the heart of palin became the biggest building site in europe now its once again a lively bustling district this is all that reminds people of where the war once stood. Germany is one country i never accepted east germany im glad its gone it is. I knew the old east germany i was 10 at the time and felt very positive about it what came next was a very tough time for us teenagers and kids because our parents lost everything but looking back id say it was nonetheless a good thing. I think were on the right track in my generation at the latest he wont be able to tell whos from the east and whos from the west. Is that really the case. Might who im im surprise you know that sort of an aspiration have people been used in the west shouldnt be different the difference shouldnt be apparent what do you say i think we have to acknowledge the difference not only between western and eastern german people but also the variety that that make the society diverse and the way. That we have to learn from those. Identities that we can acknowledge them and feel compassion for them is that happening. In some parts it is because for example my generation is speaking up about those past and histories which people dont know about yet and we hope that in the future. People in general not all western people will understand the history behind existence interesting. To you you found it in addition to the cold we all the east you know rangely young. Who are proud to be proud of well they actually poke fun at the media because media sometimes say well the people from the east are like this and like this and they put them all in one box and this box is not very positive connotative it is so along side with the rise of populism they were never minded to media reports and. This is problematic because the majority i did percenter voted for democratic Democratic Political parties and not shown and so we thought ok maybe we have to give them a platform and so people on our platform tell about their story and they many of them for the 1st time publicly. Talk unpopular what they or their family actually experienced those experiences so we want somebody. To be so. Very common example is that many people who are from the Younger Generation say well they didnt have parents who had that much time because of course they were busy to find new jobs 7 2 thirds of the people in east germany lost their jobs and. Yet so they had to become very early. But also i think its give some strange experiences. Transformation is actually a skill we need nowadays and it will be a great universe from so thats really important its a very very important point im actually proud of many years germans what they achieved they surely in this 8990 and also in the ninetys in a way that had depth to a totally different system to totally to the political system would we use todays resilience yeah yeah yeah i think they i mean not all of course i mean not all i mean many many many lost lost their jobs and head like a broken biographies and so on of course of course and especially when you talk about minorities by the way for example the vietnamese minority or the cuban minority and so on they had really really problems strong problems so you are no most of you are going to say you did a good job yes of course i think. It was a tough time back then and it still is it will always be a tough time even whenever a person migrates nowadays and if they wont ever identify themselves with the german identity for example africa who moved to germany even after the my parents moved here and for them they will always be strangers thats what they are telling themselves and thats what they tell us and the community so. I think its also part partially because they experience the kind of. Sorry. Experience that that identity is not being welcomed here and this is a part of your being very very cautious yes quite courses cautious because my exist and my identity is in danger in the German Society you live when i go out. I grew up with neo nazis in front of my door were talking about i mean back then in the ninetys you know specially it was a terrible decade in that respect i think. And theres hope theyre still there you know see change to school or is it still the same right to the same level of stretch to you to your well being when i was a child i could identify them by wearing black or being skin hats nowadays this kind of disappeared in a way. They kind of. Became the same like everyone else and so its very hard to identify the person who would put in danger. One of the were i was up i was on your science and i was looking at some of the statements that some of the people were making and one of the statements was. We want people in the east. So we want the east to be seen as an opportunity for my such myself look at least to be seen as an opportunity what does that mean that it isnt seen as an opportunity to do this perhaps even something troubling why is that the case and why is it still the case if its true its all yeah yeah i mean it is like the case that more people in the east and fought for at the age of 50 and we have to our farming i dont turn to for germany poets and writers when tyson. Is indecent yes and by the way shouldnt ask why do east germans wrote about why it should why could the a g become not popular in this part of germany a bit of a question your answer to that question there is very many answers one to me in a nutshell. Well so one quarter of the east german people have left many academics this is one reason we didnt have the movement of the 1968 in east germany and i think the most important thing is we are missing a strong or this is a Civil Society its not as strong as unrest germany so we really really. Need this but we also need more people like in the media or we need more and more east german perspectives because there is this fact that east german people dont have that must much trust in media and in the government and i think this is not surprising they had so many so much hope and and then there were you know there was devaluation and loss and of course a loss. Trust and and their perspectives are not seen in the media so we have to change these sayings and look what can we really do ok lets try and keep all of that on board look to the future a little bit so if you really want to get a feel for how dynamic many parts of the former east germany are becoming then one place that you might go to is the city that gave us lovely media lights. Leipsic is booming its among the Fastest Growing cities in germany. Its buzzing with Young Creative people its being called the new berlin its economy has been buoyant. Thats real life you think its like people in 10 or 15 years ago because theres so much going on and when youre when youre young you want to make things happen and you like to keep cans leipsic has a very active youthful startup scene a lot of Old Buildings have been renovated and the rents are relatively cheap. Major corporations are also well represented porsche b. M. W. And d. H. L. For example. Despite the enormous effort to catch up in the Eastern States productivity there is still 20 percent lower than in the west that Household Income is still 12 percent lower polls show that 57 percent of germans say the advantages of reunification outweigh the disadvantages 15 percent say the opposite where does the future lie in the east or the west. Ok last question where does the future lie in the east or the west well i know its difficult to actually answer that question because i think it lives in both parts but from the east comes definitely a very innovative. Lets say energetic kind of movement but i would say at least for the for the Younger Generation logic is a good example i think weve seen that in this little film places that you know other places also theres places like a bit a smaller place like and drazen is another place which is booming potsdam close job or land to actually the former west berlin and there are some like urban urban areas which are really like on the good on a good way towards future and of course on the other hand side you have like a rule rule areas where its much much more difficult actually where many. Especially young well educated women left the place and whats left are just rather elder men with less education but this is not true for the city select is a very very good example actually as i grew up there in the eightys and i studied their ninetys i really saw a place which embraced actually this new time and you know the fall of the wall and everything what came afterwards so its a very good very good example actually for my 2 from your perspective what can we learn from the east. We can learn from that is that. The well to tell your story is definitely the and we have to demolish that that we. Especially because were talking from west germany from here. That we have to find a way like to find not only waste but also to educate people that the east. As not the dark part of germany is. Like forever because we have to find ways to support them to. Build infrastructure and ecosystems in which they can flourish and also yeah yeah. We want to shape the future that was your statements at the top of the show how. Its one of the tools one of the goals yeah well as i said people who experience transformation in themselves or through their parents they have a certain skill they can use now and. Show these people and so for example. That i would change has found in association that stuff for basic income and research on that we have people who create coworking spaces and then sky and and so i think this is one big part of the skill of transformation and also i think people in east germany they did not inherit much right. Country property was given to the west. Germany for our audience just briefly. In the western part of germany there have been huge sums of heritance has been passed from one generation to the next the hasnt been the case in eastern germany in very many people view it is simply an object. But its also a chance because i dont take it with the company of my parents i have free choice and my parents will also support me by. Chris they couldnt do what they wanted in the g. D. R. And thats really a great opportunity and i think really in many many. Great young people during and very influential things now were having the digital i think absolutely it can be really very engaging with your take yeah well. To be honest as i said from east germans i mean the whole germany can learn from the from the east german story how you can adapt to new to new conditions and to a new situation and to challenges thats what these germans learned and i think they are most of them im still speaking of the rather Younger Generation much more resilient actually to anything what may happen in the future. And i just wonder you know what we have these i said earlier we have these sort of our annual celebrations and sometimes its a case a little bit of sort of going through the motions here in germany talking about you know what was back then what was that it was a very important juncture in german history and one of the cliches that is often used in that context is that we we all perhaps people in west germany people in east germany have walls you know heads still do you have a wall you know i wouldnt say so i would say so im in i dont i would say for myself i dont have any walls in my head my parents do but thats as i said when when we talk about east and west german you know about we need for case we have to talk about generations this may be another subject for another show but it depends very much on how what you it what you actually experienced yourself and how you how