ABSTRACT
The urban transformation of East Germany concerns local, regional and federal institutions, private and economic actors, architects, urban planners and various associations that operate in the public sphere. On the whole, the faces of East German cities through the construction of postmodern buildings, the renovation of historical centres, the modernization of infrastructures and environmental policies have improved. The first aspect highlights how cities condense and thicken cultural developments. In this sense the urban transformations in different East Germans cities can be considered paradigmatic for reflecting more generally upon the German reunification and the different collective identities produced by and emerged from this transition phase. However the dominant master narratives neglect the peculiarities of East German cities that are considered mostly only as 'ex-GDR cities' whose modernization or normalization indicates an integration and identification in the new state and in the new collective identity.
