Peaceful Revolution
1989–1990 process disestablishing East Germany
Follow Peaceful Revolution on Notably News to receive short updates to your email — rarely!
We include updates on German reunification, Helmut Kohl, Sahra Wagenknecht, Gustav von Wangenheim, Socialist Unity Party of Germany, Good Bye, Lenin!, Tear down this wall!, Treaty on the Final Settlement with Respect to Germany, German Unity Day, Jack Barsky, 1990 East German general election, Free German Youth, Ostalgie, New states of Germany, Pan-European Picnic, Alliance 90 ... and more.
| 2025 |
New states of Germany
By the 2025 federal election, BSW sees a drop in support, narrowly falling short of the 5% threshold necessary to gain seats in the Bundestag, with support of 9.9% in the East and 3.8% in the West.
|
| 2025 |
New states of Germany
In the federal election, AfD emerged as the largest party in all five former East German states.
|
| 2024 |
New states of Germany
BSW (a splinter group) emerges, further diversifying the political representation in the new states of Germany.
|
| 2024 |
New states of Germany
AfD became the biggest party in all five former East German states in the European Parliament election.
|
| 2024 |
New states of Germany
In the 2024 state elections, the newly formed BSW dominates over The Left, achieving 15.8% in Thuringia, 13.5% in Brandenburg, and 11.8% in Saxony.
|
| 2024 |
New states of Germany
A faction led by Sahra Wagenknecht splits from The Left party, forming the Sahra Wagenknecht Alliance (BSW), a new political party with more populist, nationalist, and cultural conservative tendencies.
|
| 2024 |
New states of Germany
In the Thuringian state election, AfD became the first far-right party since the Nazi Party to win a plurality of seats, marking its best-ever performance and first-place finish in a state election.
|
| 2023 | A poll revealed that 40% of East Germans now identify as East Germans rather than simply German, down from 52% previously. |
| 2021 |
New states of Germany
AfD emerged as the largest party in the states of Saxony and Thuringia, with a strong performance in eastern Germany.
|
| 2019 |
Eberhard Heinrich
Passed away in 2019.
|
| 2019 |
Eberhard Heinrich
Passed away, concluding his life as a German journalist and political figure.
|
| 2019 | A Pew Research Center survey found 89% of Germans across East and West believed reunification was good for Germany. |
| 2019 | Life satisfaction survey shows dramatic improvement, with 59% of East Germans rating their life satisfaction between 7 and 10 on a 0 to 10 scale. |
| March 2 2019 |
Eberhard Heinrich
Eberhard Heinrich passed away, with his obituary published in the newspaper 'neues deutschland'.
|
| March 2 2019 |
Eberhard Heinrich
Obituary published in the newspaper 'neues deutschland', marking his passing.
|
| 2017 |
New states of Germany
In the federal election, AfD received approximately 22% of votes in East Germany compared to 11% in West Germany.
|
| December 2017 |
New states of Germany
Scheduled completion of the Leipzig-Nuremberg railway line (part of the Munich-Berlin route), nearly three decades after German reunification.
|
| October 3 2017 |
German Unity Day
Celebration in Mainz with the motto 'Zusammen sind wir Deutschland' (Together we are Germany).
|
| July 24 2017 |
Bernhard Elsner
Died at the age of 90.
|
| July 1 2017 |
Helmut Kohl
Kohl was honored with an unprecedented European act of state in Strasbourg, France, followed by a Catholic requiem mass in Speyer Cathedral.
|
| June 16 2017 |
Helmut Kohl
Helmut Kohl died at 9:15 a.m. in the Oggersheim district of Ludwigshafen, his hometown, at the age of 87 from natural causes.
|
| May 15 2017 |
Kurt Gossweiler
Kurt Gossweiler passed away in Berlin at the age of 99, concluding a long career as a prominent historian specializing in the history and economic structure of fascism.
|
| April 2017 |
Helmut Kohl
Won a legal case against Random House and two journalists, receiving 1 million euros in damages for privacy violation.
|
| 2016 |
New states of Germany
The Alternative for Germany (AfD) reached at least 17% support in Saxony-Anhalt, Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, and Berlin.
|
| October 3 2016 |
German Unity Day
Celebration in Dresden with the motto 'Brücken bauen' (Building bridges).
|
| April 19 2016 |
Helmut Kohl
Met with Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán to discuss the European migrant crisis.
|
| 2015 |
Helmut Kohl
In late summer, Kohl personally chose his burial location at the Cathedral Chapter Cemetery in Speyer, as his health began to deteriorate.
|
| 2015 |
German Unity Day
Day of German Unity celebration held in Frankfurt, the largest city of Hesse, with the motto 'Grenzen überwinden' (Overcoming borders). Frankfurt became the second non-state capital to host the celebrations.
|
| 2014 | Economic disparity revealed between former East and West Germany, with West German adults holding average assets of 94,000 euros compared to East German adults' 40,000 euros. |
| December 2014 |
New states of Germany
A TNS Emnid survey revealed 53% of East Germans sympathized with PEGIDA demonstrators.
|
| 2013 |
New states of Germany
New states were eligible to receive investment subsidies of up to 30% as Objective 1 development regions within the European Union until this year.
|
| 2013 |
New states of Germany
Alternative für Deutschland (AfD) political party was formed, transforming the East German political landscape from a three-party to a four-party system.
|
| 2012 |
Helmut Kohl
Underwent heart surgery.
|
| 2011 |
Helmut Kohl
Began giving interviews criticizing Angela Merkel's policies on European debt crisis and nuclear power phaseout.
|
| 2011 |
German Unity Day
Day of German Unity celebration held in Bonn, the former federal capital, with the motto 'Freiheit Einheit Freude – Bewegt mehr' (Liberty Unity Joy - Make a bigger difference).
|
| 2010 |
Helmut Kohl
Underwent a gall bladder operation in Heidelberg.
|
| April 2010 |
New states of Germany
Unemployment rate in the East reached 12.7% in April.
|
This contents of the box above is based on material from the Wikipedia articles German reunification, Bernhard Elsner, German Unity Day, Kurt Gossweiler, New states of Germany, Helmut Kohl & Eberhard Heinrich, which are released under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.