Photo Gallery: East Germany's Transformation

[SigniferOne]

An amazing set of comparative photographs, showing what liberty could do to a dilapidated country.

Sample images:


"Crumbling facades: A courtyard on Markt Strasse in Erfurt, 1991. Photographer Stefan Koppelkamm travelled through East Germany just after the Berlin Wall fell."


"He returned to the same places 10 years later. The same courtyard in Erfurt in May 2003. Now with a cafe, the building is hardly recognizable."


"Halle, 1991. An antiques store on Geiststrasse. If it wasn't for the cars and the video game advert on the left, it would be difficult to guess which decade this photo was taken."


"Halle 2003."

http://www.spiegel.de/fotostrecke/fo...e-59943-2.html


Thoughts?

[eisenkopf]

I have seen this transformation with my own eyes, it's been amazing. But I have to dissappoint you, it wasn't liberty what did it. It was hundreds of billions transferred East from the West. One could complement the photographs with images from Western German cities, showing crumbling facades, closed public baths and libraries, etc.

In fact, some Western cities are considering right now to stop transferring their share of money East, because they are mired in debt, while many Eastern cities flourish (mind you, the cities, not the countryside...).

There have been excellent articles on the subject in the German weekly "Die Zeit", unfortunately not in English, but here you go:
http://www.zeit.de/politik/deutschla...buergermeister

http://www.zeit.de/2012/11/DOS-Solidaritaetszuschlag

[Kitsunegari]

And East Germany was the jewel of the Soviet bloc.

[SigniferOne]

I have seen this transformation with my own eyes, it's been amazing. But I have to dissappoint you, it wasn't liberty what did it. It was hundreds of billions transferred East from the West. One could complement the photographs with images from Western German cities, showing crumbling facades, closed public baths and libraries, etc.

In fact, some Western cities are considering right now to stop transferring their share of money East, because they are mired in debt, while many Eastern cities flourish (mind you, the cities, not the countryside...).

There have been excellent articles on the subject in the German weekly "Die Zeit", unfortunately not in English, but here you go:
http://www.zeit.de/politik/deutschla...buergermeister

http://www.zeit.de/2012/11/DOS-Solidaritaetszuschlag

That's interesting indeed, is it possible to find any of these articles in English?

[eisenkopf]

That's interesting indeed, is it possible to find any of these articles in English?

Unfortunately, not from the "Zeit", which has better quality than most other newspapers. However, there are two from the Spiegel, which usually are of decent enough quality:

http://www.spiegel.de/international/...373639,00.html (long piece several years old, but gives a lot of general info)

http://www.spiegel.de/international/...822473,00.html (shorter recent one focusing on the complaints of Western German cities).

Then there is this one from the Independent: http://www.independent.co.uk/news/wo...ax-459805.html but unfortunately, it starts with an error right away: The solidarity tax is NOT a surcharge on the income, it is a surcharge on the income tax.

It is difficult to measure how much money exactly has been transferred. There are two main sources: First, the Solidarity Pact, between Länder. This is an extension/modification of existing pre-unification arrangements, in which rich Länder pay some money into a fund, and poor Länder then get some money out of it (Länderfinanzausgleich). Then, there is the mentioned Solidarity tax. However, it is not used directly for funding stuff in the East, because German law forbids any tax to be direct and one-purpose. It goes all into the Federal Budget before being re-assigned. A lot of the money went into silly infrastructure projects and urban renovation projects. For which mostly Western companies won the bids, so at least part of the money flowed back into the West. A lot of people (in the West) got rich (or richer) through the re-unification.

Then, of course, the problems of the Western cities are also homegrown and do not stem only from the Solidarity Pact. Many towns have problems because they just did not get their finances under control in time, or were stupid enough to sell lots of their municipal infrastructure (public transport, water, waste, libraries, ...) to US investors for a few meager millions of immediate cash flow (yes, a lot of Western German infrastructure has been privatized, with US investors as the new owners, and totally disastrous results. So much for privatizations being beneficial for society as a whole...).

The main problem with the financing approach to the Re-Unificatio was the promise that we would have prosperity everywhere within a few years. This was a promise made by Kohl to ensure his success in the upcoming election, and also to keep the East-Germans in East Germany... without the promise of immediate wealth, many more would have migrated to the West, leading to housing and social security breakdown in Western municipalities... But this also meant that the money was distributed indiscriminately everywhere (we call it the "watering can" method in Germany), without evaluating first where it might be most profitable. So a lot of money was wasted in rural areas, which still have no jobs, and a declining demography today.

The current critique of the Western cities is that the Solidarity Pact II is to last until 2019, while obviously the conditions on the ground have changed: Many Eastern cities are prospering without debt (e.g. Jena), while many Western cities suffer. But again, we are only talking about the cities here. The situation of rural Eastern Germany is much worse, and it won't change. We should have made rural Eastern Germany one big nature reserve... It's just that no politician has/had the courage to say that aloud.

[nce_wht_guy]

Now look at Russia and you'll see the process in reverse.

[Thorn777]

hundreds of billions

This^

And it still sucks.

[Basil II the B.S]

This^

And it still sucks.

We can always go back to 2 Germany.
Or 300 tiny ones..

And what's up with this lack of solidarity towards fellow Germans?

[Dr. Croccer]

And what's up with this lack of solidarity towards fellow Germans?

I think it has to do with the fact that the western half has been putting billions into the east unconditionally, and the east still is quite impoverished compared to the rest of the country, and often don't even consider themselves to be the same as their western counterparts, and vice versa. I was in Potsdam last summer and they were pulling down all the old communist buildings in the center.

At least they aren't as hostile towards eachother as many Italians are...

[Basil II the B.S]

I think it has to do with the fact that the western half has been putting billions into the east unconditionally, and the east still is quite impoverished compared to the rest of the country, and often don't even consider themselves to be the same as their western counterparts, and vice versa. I was in Potsdam last summer and they were pulling down all the old communist buildings in the center.

At least they aren't as hostile towards eachother as many Italians are...

Well, the North has been pouring money in the South for the last 130 years.. I have a feeling not even West Germans could tolerate that. Much like Flanders and Wallonia..

[Dr. Croccer]

Well, the North has been pouring money in the South for the last 130 years.. I have a feeling not even West Germans could tolerate that. Much like Flanders and Wallonia..

Flanders and Wallonia is a whole different case altogether.

[misfitsfiend138]

How about more pics of post soviet transformations?

[Thorn777]

Got to love pic 35 and 36 in the OP slide.

[Thorn777]

Thats a Dumb Strawman.

[Treize]

Been to the East and the end of 2011...
Many crumbling houses, many abandoned houses, badly dressed people and ugly women.
And DDR museums everywhere, even inside supermarkets.

[pchalk]

Been to the East and the end of 2011...
Many crumbling houses, many abandoned houses, badly dressed people and ugly women.
And DDR museums everywhere, even inside supermarkets.

those ugly women; i blame communism

The North-South divide has been building up for some time (analogous to England BTW, where it's been a phenomenon for more than a century). Saxony is clearly tilting south, as is Thuringia (bar the rural areas of course). The development has some good sides to it, however: the Cold War related differences are receding and the regions are once again aligned according to culture and geography.

this is a centuries old divide though or are you saying there is a renewed nature to this divide? ive spent almost all of my time in the south or center of germany. so i have not had much exposure to north/south differences aside from occasional encounters or the articles i read. in my limited experience then, i just have a personal feeling that this divide has become less prevalent. i feel it is more of a rural vs city culture that you see even here in the US at times.

[Dr. Croccer]

this is a centuries old divide though or are you saying there is a renewed nature to this divide? ive spent almost all of my time in the south or center of germany. so i have not had much exposure to north/south differences aside from occasional encounters or the articles i read. in my limited experience then, i just have a personal feeling that this divide has become less prevalent. i feel it is more of a rural vs city culture that you see even here in the US at times.

I even noticed the difference. The Northern Germans speak dialects which are much like Dutch, and so is their culture. It seemed very cosmopolitan and the people were quite sober and reserved, whereas the southerners seemed more hospitable and traditional.

[Exarch]

"liberty" did this?
one should ask then, why Detroit is still the hole that it is, despite being under "Liberty" for so long.

No, it was business and commerce and capital (not necessarily, capitalism per se) that lead to urban renewal.

sorry, signifier, the mudpit isn't a place for you to air your flawed ideologies,

[Basil II the B.S]

"liberty" did this?
one should ask then, why Detroit is still the hole that it is, despite being under "Liberty" for so long.

Americans failing at integrating black people.
What bugs me is that we are trying to follow the same flawed model. But that's another story..

[Exarch]

Americans failing at integrating black people.
What bugs me is that we are trying to follow the same flawed model. But that's another story..

it's not just Detroit, though Detroit is the most extreme example; look at hollywood right now, ghetto and urban decay kinda like east LA.
Trying to make a correlation between urban decay/renewal and a political model is like saying 'since hitler and stalin had mustaches, and they were genocidal maniacs, all ppl with mustaches are genocidal maniacs'

or let's take Signifier's assertion that western notions of "Liberty" are responsible for urban renewal; why then is Shanghai so glisteningly modern compared to say, Los Angeles' infrastructure?? and i kinda doubt Signifer would say that Shanghai "is more Liberal" than Los Angeles.

"Liberty" and "Communism" or "Socialism" or whatever "isms" have nothing to do with urban renewal; only money and social gentrification. EDIT.