As the kickoff to a series of events marking the 20th anniversaries of the fall of the Berlin Wall (November 9, 1989) and German unification (October 3, 1990), CCGES recently took an interdisciplinary group of ten graduate students from York and the Centre’s partner institution at the Université de Montréal on a 11-day trip through the former-East Germany. Led by Prof. Marcus Funck, the German Academic Exchange Service’s Visiting Professor at York, and CCGES Coordinator, John Paul Kleiner, the trip was intended to provide insight into the massive social, economic and cultural transformation which has taken place in eastern Germany over the past almost two decades of unification. Through encounters with academics, politicians, professionals as well as civic leaders, activists and residents, tour participants explored the ramifications of rapid deindustrialization, declining levels of social and democratic engagement, massive demographic changes (relocation from east to west and a rapidly aging population) and East Germany’s disastrous ecological legacy.
In addition to stops in the region’s major population centres of Berlin, Leipzig and Dresden, the trip’s organizers also took pains to include a number of smaller towns and cities (Frankfurt/Oder, Eisenhüttenstadt, Hoyerswerda, Görlitz) on the itinerary. Prof. Funck explains, “If you want to get a real sense of the successes and costs of the transformation processes in the former-East, you have get off the beaten track, because the story of unification varies widely from place to place. Going to the smaller towns helped provide the sort of differentiation that is essential to getting an accurate impression of a situation.” That this approach was worthwhile is testified to by the experience of the students. Evelyn Gere (Master in Environmental Studies) notes, “The main thing I took from this experience is that there isn’t simply one East German experience, and not one memory of East Germany. The people we met, their stories and their memories reflected a plethora of opinions and perspectives that, together, begin to tell the story of how things were and are.”
Highlights of the trip included being received by Wolfgang Tiefensee, Germany’s Federal Minister responsible for the reconstruction of the former East, and his ministry staff. After a short, but frank talk from Minister Tiefensee outlining the achievements and challenges facing the “Construction East” project, the group spent more than two hours discussing a number of facets of the transformation with the Minister’s Parliamentary Secretary, Ulrich Kasparick, and leading Ministry staff.
CCGES Study Tour with Minister Wolfgang Tiefensee
Other high points included a fascinating, multi-layered discussion on civic responsibility and engagement in Dresden with Dr. Hans-Joachim Jäger, one of the driving forces behind the successful efforts to rebuild the Frauenkirche, a Dresden landmark destroyed during World War II, and Ms. Nora Goldenbogen, the chair of that city’s Jewish congregation. In Hoyerswerda and Eisenhüttenstadt, the group encountered two “socialist cities”, planned communities built in support of East Germany heavy industry both of which are struggling to cope with huge population losses (close to 50% in both cases) to redefine their relevance in a new social and economic order. Also unforgettable for trip participants was a visit to a former open pit mine in Großräschen where attempts are underway to transform a number of moonscape-like mine sites into a series of 19 artificial lakes intended to make the region an attractive tourist destination.
Reflecting on the impressions left by the trip, student participant Matt Bera (PhD, History) offered, “Getting access to the people and places we did on this trip was a once-in-a-lifetime experience. Something unique happened here after 1989, and this trip has helped deepen my understanding of the forces at work shaping the new Germany.” For the tour’s co-organizer John Paul Kleiner, the tour was rewarding, but he finds it hard to draw conclusions from all the groups experiences: “It was often hard to know whether to feel buoyed by what has been accomplished or daunted by the challenges which remain. There’s no question that, in material terms, the average eastern German is much better off today than was the case in 1989, but the threat posed by unfavourable demographic developments along with the continued battle to redefine the area’s economic base make it hard to be too optimistic about the future. In some ways, we often felt as if we were getting a glimpse into what the years ahead may hold for the western world and that was a sobering experience.”
Financial support for the trip was provided by both the German Academic Exchange Service and Bombardier Canada.
