For 10,315 days, from 1961 to 1989, the wall splitting Berlin into communist east and capitalist west was a symbol of Germany’s and Europe’s division. February 6th marked the 10,316th day since its fall, the point when Germany’s post-wall period had lasted longer than the wall itself. Germans on social media shared reflections of what their lives would have been like #ohneMauerfall (without the fall of the wall): opportunities not taken, partners not met, freedoms not enjoyed. It was also a chance to reflect on the successes and failures of reunification. Germany is booming, the east has been expensively modernised. Yet at last September’s election populist parties of left and right took 40% of the vote in the “new”, eastern states, compared with 18% in the west. Building new railways and autobahns is one thing; other fractures take longer to heal.
Source: The Economist – Europe