New Brochure • 18.12.202030 Years of German Unity & Diversity

When reunification was celebrated on the night of 2 to 3 October 1990, German unity had been formally sealed. Nevertheless, from a demographic point of view, Germany at that time initially consisted of two very different parts. Around three decades have now passed, and the question arises whether what belongs together has actually grown together demographically and cartographically. A new study of the Federal Institute for Population Research focusses on the demographic trends of the past 30 years questioning as to how the German population has changed since reunification and which regional differences have arisen ever since? In order to address these questions, the new brochure shows regional comparisons on the level of cities and districts based on new cartographic data for the years 1990 and 2018.

Among the demographic indicators which show that the East has moved closer to the West is, for example, the alignment of age at first birth. In other areas, West Germany has in turn moved closer to East Germany – for example in the increased labour force participation of women and mothers.

There Are Still Significant Differences in Some Respects

Prof. Dr. Norbert F. Schneider Source: BiB

However, some differences have remained. This is true, for example, for the higher proportion of the foreign population in West Germany and the higher proportion of non-marital births in East Germany. New differences have also emerged for some demographic indicators, for example with regard to the ageing of the population or the shares of men and women.

There are still significant differences between East and West at regional level in some places. “The new challenges therefore lie in coping with the increasing differences among the regions and between the centres and the periphery”, says Professor Norbert Schneider, Director of the BiB. “Regional developments are by no means permanently stable, but rather pulsating and characterised by ups and downs.”

Demographic Diversity Also Exists in the West – But in a Different Way

Dr. Sebastian Klüsener Source: BiB

Dr. Sebastian Klüsener, research director at the BiB, stresses how diversely the German population in East and West has developed over the course of the last 30 years: “Demographic diversity also exists in West Germany, but it is different from that in the East. For example, there are also regions in the West that have experienced population declines over the past 30 years through structural change processes.”

There has been observed a harmonisation in both parts of the country, particularly in the development of life expectancy between 1990 and 2018. While there were still significant differences in 1990, by 2018 these had become much more similar to those in the West as a result of improved investment in health care in eastern Germany.

Some east-west differences also have deep historical roots. This is true, for example, for the development of the proportion of non-marital births in East and West, which was already much higher in East Germany than in West Germany before 1945.

The brochure addresses these and more topics in a visual way, showing pairs of maps from 1990 and 2018.

Cartographical Visualisation of the Changes in the East and the West

To enable also a visualisation of the changes experienced in the last 30 years, the Federal Agency for Cartography and Geodesy (BKG) made a cartographical time travel available on the basis of a new web application by BKG and BiB. This application offers interactive maps and aerial photographs comparing the situation in East and West Germany around 1990 and today, plotted in charts.

In addition to demographic data, the application also includes historical aerial photographs depicting former border crossings in Berlin and topographic maps of the GDR which allow a comparison with the present appearance of the country.