ABSTRACT
In the course of the 1990s, a series of postcards entitled "Typisch Berlin/" appeared on the market in the German capital that provided an often ironic commentary on the challenges faced by the newly unified Germany. This chapter covers the reuniting Germany theme in order to ascertain the state of Germany's political. First, it examines the twin issues of identity and unity by considering to what extent today's Germany is faced by the problem of two political cultures in one nation. Second, it analyzes the overall state of Germany's political culture in comparison with the country's illiberal prewar past. Third, it considers the thorny question of "mastering the past". A fourth and final explanation of east-west divergence in Germany might focus on the overall dynamic of the unification process into the 1990s and examines distinct eastern German attitudes that have resulted from what is subjectively experienced as a western German "takeover" of the "new Bundeslander".
